Obchodní galerie Orlí House

Welcome to the very heart of Brno. You are standing in front of a building called Obchodní galerie Orlí, but its story begins much earlier than the first modern business premises opened here. Now when you look at the building in front of you, you see its distinctive facade, which nowadays serves as an entrance to the shopping centre, but underneath this modern feature is a layer of history that goes deep into the past.

Let's stop together to see how this place was created. Imagine the center of Brno centuries ago. The roots of this building range back to the thirteenth century, which means that this place was built in the early Middle Ages. Over time, however, the face of the building changed. If we think about its core, we'll get to the seventeenth century, the Renaissance. It is from this period that the basic structure that forms the inner skeleton of the house comes. It's fascinating to realize that while we now perceive the building as one whole, it was originally two separate buildings. These two buildings were adjacent to each other and each had its own life until the nineteenth century. At that time they were connected to a large building, which was in line with the trends in urban core development.

Now pay attention to the appearance of the building that you are currently facing. Notice her facade. What you see on the surface is the result of later modifications and reflects a style called neo-Renaissance. This style sought to restore the beauty and potency of the Renaissance era, but with the means and knowledge of the nineteenth century. The facade looks unified and elegant, which is to hide the fact that two originally separated buildings are hidden inside. When you enter or look around, try to imagine how this facade has changed over the years to match the period image of beauty and representativeness.

This building has been known in the past under the name of the Petrvald House. Although today we may not know the specific names of all the people who lived or worked here, the name itself tells us the importance of the object within Brno's urban space. The building served various purposes and with each new generation it adapted to the needs of the time. In the modern era, the construction has undergone a fundamental transformation. In the year one thousand nine hundred ninety-seven, a major reconstruction began, which was intended to inhale the old wall's new life. The result was to open a shopping mall in the year one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight. Later, in the year two thousand thirteen, the building came into the hands of the Havlín family who took over its administration. The whole modernization project was realized by an architectural studio called Haralds, which had to balance the needs of modern business with respect to the historical nature of the house.

And now we come to the part that may be most interesting for every mystery lover and hidden details. Even if you can see from the outside a modern center and a neo-Renaissance face, the building keeps real treasures that are not visible at first sight. If you get to the lower levels, you can meet something special. In the basement, the original vaults have been preserved to this day. These stone arches are silent witnesses of centuries of history and remind us of a time when it was built differently and from other materials. It's incredible that in the center of a busy city, in the middle of shopping and rush, there are spaces that look almost the same as hundreds of years ago. Even more fascinating is the fact that the entire ground floor from the seventeenth century was preserved in the building. This means that the layout of the space at the lower part of the building still corresponds to the Renaissance plan. Imagine the contrast: modern windows and advertising areas, under which still lie space laid out at a time when people were moving around in a completely different dress and speaking a different language.

This combination of old and new makes Obchodní galerie Orlí a unique place. It's not just a simple department store, it's a layered archive of Brno history. From the thirteenth century to the Renaissance core, the connection of buildings in the nineteenth century to the current form of a shopping centre. Every stone and vault in the basement tells their own story about how the city around them changed.

I suggest you enter slowly now and try to perceive this atmosphere. Whenever you walk through the halls, remember that there is history beneath your feet and at the foundation of the building that has survived wars, fires, and regime changes. Try to imagine what the house of Petřvald looked like at the time of its greatest glory and how it has gradually become the space we know today.

This concludes the short tour at Obchodní galerie Orlí. I hope this information has enriched you and that you are now looking at this building with different eyes. I wish you the rest of the day in beautiful Brno and enjoy further exploring the secrets of this city. Goodbye.