Palacký Square with House no. 360/II and the Pedestal for the Statue of František Palacký
Palacký Square and its surroundings on the eastern bridgehead of the Palacký Bridge was one of the most affected areas from the accidental bombing by the 8th US Air Force on 14 February 1945. In his pictures of Palacký Bridge, Josef Sudek indirectly captured the square as well. He focused on the surroundings of the square in the large set of photographs of the nearby monastery Na Slovanech, known as Emmaus. In one picture, however, he captured the square itself with the ruined apartment building on the corner of Gorazdova and Na Moráni Streets (Na Moráni 3, no. 360/II). The house with Art Nouveau elements was torn down after the war and the site remained empty. A new building was built in1981–1989 in connection with the construction of the metro line B. It was an operational metro building with technical and postmodern elements designed by the architects Aleš Moravec and František Novotný.
Sudek's picture also shows the pedestal of the sculptural monument to František Palacký, clearly seen in the middle of the square. The nine-metre statue of the founder of modern Czech historiography, sometimes called the Father of the nation, by the sculptor Stanislav Sucharda and architect Alois Dryák was unveiled in 1912. The figure of Palacký as national revivalist was a provocation for the Nazis, and it was therefore damaged during the war and dismantled. In 1942–1945 it was hidden in the metal depository at Maniny where Sudek photographed it.