Prague: U Zlateho Hada (September 2004)

My spouse and I dined at U Zlateho Hada for dinner in late September 2004. Charles Street was named after Charles IV since 1848, prior to that time, it was named Jezuitska, and long before that, it was named by craftsmen who used to live here, such as the goldsmiths that lived in a house on the corner of Charles and Lilova Streets. The house was built on two medieval building plots around 1419. Sometime after 1570 the house was modified the Renaissance way. Its facades in the Renaissance style were changed in the 18th century to a Baroque style. On the facade towards Charles Street even today, you can recognize the extent of the two original objects. The main two-wing building has rooms with Renaissance arches but in its cellars you can find Gothic arches. In Lilova Street, you can see a smaller wing, arched in the Baroque style. The building got its golden snake house sign in the second half of the 18th century. The decorative cartouche relief has a twisted golden snake with the royal crown on her head. The snake was a symbol of the devil, who seduced Adam's wife Eve, but also according to a legend, was saint George´s guidance and a gothic healing symbol . House “U Zlateho hada” ("At the golden snake“) is however most famous for the fact that here was probably one of the first cafés in Prague. At the beginning of the 18th century, an Arab or Armenian merchant came to Prague via Cairo, Tripoli, Rome, and Vienna, converted to Catholicism here, and started selling coffee. At first he walked the streets in his oriental costume, wearing a container with burning coal and a pot on his head, cups, sugar, and drink in his hand. In 1714, he opened his cafe.