Completed in 1783 by wealthy Count F. A. Nostitz, the neoclassical theater became an early symbol of the emerging high Czech culture -- with the Greek theme Patriae et Musis (the Fatherland and Music) etched above its front columns. In 1799, the wealthy land barons who formed fiefdoms known as The Estates gave the theater its current name. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart staged the premier of Don Giovanni here in 1787 because he said that Vienna's conservative patrons didn't appreciate him or his passionate and sometimes shocking work. They also wanted mostly German opera, but Praguers were happy to stage the performance in Italian. "Praguers understand me," Mozart was quoted as saying. In 1834, Czech playwright J. K. Tyl staged a comedy called Fidlovacka, in which the patriotic song "Kde domov muj?" ("Where Is My Home?") was a standout. It later became the Czech national anthem. In the heady days at the end of World War II in 1945, the Estates' Theater was renamed Tyl Theater but, when a total reconstruction of the building was completed in 1991, its previous name was reinstated. Czech director Milos Forman returned to his native country to film his Oscar-winning Amadeus, shooting the scenes of Mozart in Prague with perfect authenticity at the Estates' Theater. The theater doesn't offer daily tours, but tickets for performances -- and the chance to sit in one of the many elegant private boxes -- are usually available. Tour events are occasionally scheduled, and individual tours for this and other major monuments can be arranged through Prazská informacní sluzba (www.pis.cz; fax 221-714-151).

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Prague and the Best of the Czech Republic, 7th Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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