Legend has it that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart overnighted at U Zlatého anděla (At the Golden Angel) during his very first visit to the Golden City. Back then it was one of the grandest inns in town, located exactly where it stands today, at Celetná 29 in Old Town.

Today, the site is a busy hive of reconstruction activity, as the COPA Group, a property development company founded in Prague in 1996 by Swiss entrepreneur Sebastian Pawlowski, is working to restore its former glory. COPA has become well known in Prague for its classy refurbishment of high-profile properties like Slovanský Dům and Hergetova cihelna, and a pending makeover of City Hall.

When U Zlatého anděla opens its doors to the public in spring 2007, it will be as a four-star facility with 64 rooms, a tony café, upscale restaurant and a pub with its own brewery.

The reconstruction aims to stay as faithful as possible to the building's original configuration, according to lead architect Marek Tichý, 35, of Tichý & Kolářová Architects. U Zlatého anděla has gone through a number of expansion and improvement efforts in its history, starting in 1830, when its original two floors were expanded to the current five (six, counting the exclusive single-suite penthouse). Subsequent minor redesigns were made in 1860 and again soon after World War I, and one final time during the interwar period of the Czechoslovak First Republic.

"We've utilized as much of the original skeleton as possible," Tichý says of the current project, kneeling down inside one of the model suites to point out how the restored parquet floors and ceramic tiles will look. "What we've basically tried to do here is modernize, without reinventing the wheel."

Classy clientele

When it reopens, U Zlatého anděla will once again cater to the kind of upscale clientele who have checked in over the years. Along with Mozart, Saxon and Hanover monarchs stayed there. It was also frequented by the queens of Denmark and Greece. With its convenient central location just steps away from Obecní dům, the site hasn't lost a bit of its appeal.

"Did you know that ours is the original zlatý anděl in all of Prague?" inquires Bélovský as he conducts a site visit. "A small angel statue was erected outside the building sometime between 1810 and 1815, and the very same statue will stand atop the street once we're done. Other places in the city have adopted the zlatý anděl name, but just so you realize, we were the very first!"

The tour shows U Zlatého anděla to be pleasantly deceptive from the outside. A walk beneath the arch of what will eventually become a pedestrian passage bisecting the glass-roofed atrium — one of several contemporary touches, according to Tichý — demonstrates just how enormous the building truly is. The bulk of the new facility's rooms will look onto a spacious courtyard that will eventually become the hotel's lobby. Hallways will be soundproofed with double-glazed glass, and the overall color scheme will match the "oasis feeling" that the hotel aims to create, according to Tichý.

The plan is to make extensive use of forest greens, earthy browns and splashes of subtle gold in order to accentuate what Tichý calls the building's "naturally relaxing ambience." Rooms in the "gold category" will be larger corner suites fronting mostly on Celetná street with stunning views toward Ovocný trh. The remainder, for the most part, will be arrayed about the inner courtyard with both inside and outside views.

Historical treasure

Over four decades of communism, the superstructure of U Zlatého anděla was basically left to rot, according to Tichý. He says the site surveyors who began charting the reconstruction effort back in 2002 were astonished to discover the sheer neglect of the place. "It was total chaos," Tichý says. "Metrostav [the builders] took nearly three months just to get the place ready."

Digging through the debris unearthed even more history. While it's common for builders burrowing into Prague 1's ancient dust to come upon historic artifacts, the cellar of U Zlatého anděla contained a veritable treasure trove of them, including many from the time the Templar Knights met there. The discovery necessitated a brief pause until the state's National Institute for Historical Sites could come in and perform an exhaustive sweep of the building. All the artifacts have now been safely transferred to the National Museum on Wenceslas Square, where they can be viewed by appointment only.

All of this only reinforced the importance of the project for the developer. "To be part of something this old, this significant and in the historical center...well, it was an honor to be chosen," Bélovský says.

The project's significance outweighs its cost, according to Bélovský. "Three hundred million crowns probably represents the high-to-middle budgetary range for us," he says. "While it's one of the smaller projects we're presently a part of, Mr. Pawlowski feels the heritage value of the building far exceeds what we'll eventually expend on the renovation."

For Tichý, the project is an opportunity to add another chapter to U Zlatého anděla's storied history. "Just to be able to come here and be a part of the preservation of this place was a phenomenal compliment," he says. "Another notch on more than 500 years of Prague architectural history. Isn't that amazing?"

Given the attention to restoring the building to its original condition, it seems worth posing the question: Would Mozart recognize the place were he to come back when it reopens?