History of Vikarka

Vikárka is a restaurant that has been here for centuries. In 1347, Emperor Charles IV gave the local vicar the right to brew their own beer. At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, local beer was supplied to the entire Castle and its inhabitants, including Emperor Rudolf II, but also to alchemists who had their workshops in the local underground. In the spacious Rudolph´s foundry they tried to make gold and the philosopher’s stone.

The famous Prague restaurant Vikárka was named after vicars, original inhabitants and members of the St. Vitus Chapter. It was founded in 1845 and has hosted thousands of visitors for about 180 years of its intermittent operation. However, one literary ‘guest’ stands out – the Prague burgher Matěj Brouček, the main character of the novels by Svatopluk Čech (1846–1908), who being drunk fell into the Middle Ages and found himself among the Hussites. He was saved by Mr. Würfl, the Vikárka’s innkeeper, from being burnt to death as he had found Matěj Brouček in a barrel in the yard and woken him to the present.

The Vikárka restaurant has also played an important role in modern Czech history. It was here that Presidents T. G. Masaryk and Václav Havel met with other statesmen and world figures in informal meetings. For example, a meeting of His Holiness the Dalai Lama from Tibet with representatives of Czechoslovak churches took place here. The Vikárka restaurant has also been popular with many artists, including Karel Gott, Benny Anderson (ABBA), Roxette and the Spice Girls.

The Vikárka restaurant has undergone the third reconstruction in its history, which lasted eight years. On the 22.1.2023 the Vikárka restaurant reopened to the public again.