Underneath the foundations of Prague, there are secrets to be found and mysteries to unravel. Prague is known for its charming old town streets, the striking Charles Bridge and the imposing Prague Castle complex – but look a little deeper, and you’ll uncover the city’s dark past.
Speculum Alchemiae is a historical alchemist’s workshop, with underground chambers dating back to the 16th century. The museum’s name translates to ‘Mirror of Alchemy’, and the labs were only discovered by accident after a flood in 2002 and the subsequent renovation work. The guided tour of this unusual attraction, hosted in Prague’s second oldest house, takes visitors behind the scenes of an unassuming shop front, into the secret world of alchemy.
A brief history of alchemy
Alchemy is an ancient practice of change, and a pre-cursor to modern chemistry. The art of alchemy concerned changing matter into something beyond its original state – a particularly famous endeavour being to turn worthless base metal into solid gold.
Traditions date back as far as the ancient world, with its original roots in China and India. Western alchemy can be approximately traced back to ancient and Hellenistic Egypt, making its way through the Mediterranean, the Islamic world and medieval Europe.
Discovering Speculum Alchemiae
In August 2002, Prague was hit by freak flooding, as the river Vltava burst its banks and flood plains became saturated by the river water. 50,000 people were evacuated from the Old Town, central metro stations were completely underwater, and evacuees were sleeping on camp beds in refuge spaces.
When the flood water subsided, authorities began to repair the damage – and as a result of this reconstruction work, a hole in the ground was discovered that led to previously undocumented underground chambers. As the mud was cleared from these rooms, more information was found on their purpose – a subterranean alchemy lab dating back to the 16th century.
Prague’s Second Oldest House
The building above the underground labs, U Rabbiho Loewa, has its own fascinating history. Widely believed to be the second oldest house in Prague, dating back to 900AD, it was preserved during the redevelopment of the Jewish Quarter in the 19th century. Even further back in Prague’s history, the building is referenced as the site of a 15th century herbal pharmacy and the site of Emperor Rudolf II’s alchemical laboratory.
The house itself has some spooky history and stories to uncover, including the tale of a flaming chariot that would appear in front of the house.
Guided tour of Speculum Alchemiae’s Underground Labs
While anyone can walk in and check out the Speculum Alchemiae surface-level shop, you can only access the underground chambers as part of a guided tour. The tours cost 200 CZK and take 30 minutes – make sure you bring cash, as they don’t take card payments.
While we waited for our tour to start, we inspected some of the displays in the shop, where decorative bottles of elixir are available to buy. The unique glass painted vials come in all shapes and sizes, and there are four types of elixir on display – all with letters on the shelves detailing their usage and history.
Heading through a door in the far corner of the store, we entered a parlour room with a desk, bookcase, fireplace and various artefacts. Few of these artefacts are original, however the room has been reconstructed to look as it would have done when Emperor Rudolf II established his alchemical laboratory here in the 16th century.
In this room, our tour guide set the scene, sharing a brief history of alchemy in Prague. Emperor Rudolf II, a collector of curiosities with a keen interest in the dark sciences, is regarded as the key driver of alchemy in Bohemia (the former name of the Czech Republic).
On the bookshelf, one bottle is kept in a glass case. Believed to be an original artefact found during the excavation of the chambers, the bottle is for an Elixir of Eternal Youth – made for Emperor Rudolf II. by his personal doctor, Tadeas Hajek.
It’s not just the secret to eternal youth that the bookcase hides, though – a twist of a handle set into the bookshelf opens a secret door, with stairs that lead to the underground chamber. I’d read about this before visiting, so it wasn’t a surprise, but it really added to the theatricality and intrigue of the tour.
Making our way down a narrow staircase, the tour explores multiple chambers used for various elements of alchemy. Although little of the equipment here is original, there are some elements including broken glassworks and a small mummified crocodile that were uncovered during renovation.
In his quest to further his alchemical developments, Emperor Rudolf brought two famed alchemists from England to Prague – Edward Kelley and John Dee. It was in these underground laboratories that Rudolf and his alchemist worked on pursuing some of alchemy’s greatest feats.
In particular, Rudolf wanted to discover the philosopher’s stone – a substance that could turn base metals into gold. One of the rooms in the laboratory chambers was outfitted for just this purpose, with a furnace and ventilation shafts. There are also storage rooms and a glass-blowing chamber.
As we made our way through the rooms, the tour guide filled us in on what alchemists would spend their time on as they worked. Alongside their quest for gold, alchemists would create elixirs, said to have magical benefits to those who ingested them. The Elixir of Love was said to strengthen existing love and have aphrodisiac effects (especially good for making lots of babies), and the Elixir of Memory does what it says on the tin – helps with concentration and memory.
The chambers in their entirety actually reach beyond the rooms you’re able to see on the tour, but for safety reasons, not all spaces are accessible. There’s a locked doorway near the first chamber that leads down to more hidden passages, which are said to have linked the alchemy labs to Prague Castle, the Barracks, and Town Hall.
On the tour, we were given plenty of opportunity to take pictures and take our time investigating the rooms and space upstairs. It’s a small space, so I can’t imagine it being much fun with lots of people – luckily, the tours are run in small groups, with our group of seven being about the perfect size.
At the end of the tour, we headed back up to the surface-level room, with the opportunity to take another look around and ask any questions, before finishing up back in the shop area. We opted not to buy any of the souvenir elixirs, as they’re on the pricey side. The painted bottles are MEGA cool though.
Speculum Alchemiae: Visitor Details
Opening hours: Speculum Alchemiae is open Monday – Sunday from 10am-6pm. Tours run every half an hour and last 30 minutes.
Admission Price: Guided tours of Speculum Alchemiae cost 200 CZK for adults, 170 CZK for students (with valid ID), 150 CZK for 65+ and 70 CZK for children.
Accessibility: The underground chambers can only be accessed via a spiral staircase, and does not have wheelchair access.
Children: The tour and attraction itself isn’t particularly scary, so would be suitable for children.
Location: Haštalská 1, 110 00 Staré Město. Around 5 minutes walk from the Old Town Square.
Website: www.alchemiae.cz/en
Is Speculum Alchemiae worth visiting?
I really enjoyed visiting Speculum Alchemiae, and it definitely fit the brief of ‘spooky vibes’ as we descended into the stone tunnels. As someone with a chronically overactive imagination, it was thrilling to imagine 16th century alchemists at work in these rooms, and the idea of a network of tunnels under the Czech capital.
Is the reconstruction a bit gimmicky and sensationalist? Perhaps. But regardless of the questionable setup, it’s still very exciting to go beneath the streets of Prague and discover chambers that were hidden from the public for centuries. Taken with a teaspoon-full of cynicism and a sip of suspended disbelief, the stories in the tour will captivate your imagination, and for anyone with an interest in the dark and mystic side of history, Speculum Alchemiae is definitely worth checking out.
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