House No. 784, in which the Adria Hotel is located, is a part of the terraced development at the bottom section of Wenceslas Square. According to the available records this whole side and the block behind it as well as the Church of Our Lady of Snow was owned by the White Friars’ Monastery. At the end of the 14th century in pursuit of acquiring the means to finance their very costly building programme the monastery divided this land into plots for construction of several burger houses liable to tax. At first what is today’s plot was occupied by two structures. However, records show that the property sold in 1540 was a single house No. 784 with a garden. Throughout the centuries the building was owned by several owners and underwent various adaptations. In 1911 the “Blue Shoe” House was bought by the hotelier Emil Ročák, who made a general reconstruction of the building converting it into hotel and restaurant facilities. During the reconstruction a restaurant hall was built in the basement and it also contained a mezzanine floor with a gallery including a stage for cabaret and other similar show productions. The whole house under the title of “NEPTUN” was approved for operation in 1912.
