CZECH REPUBLIC – Prague, Vitkov Monument // Casino Royale (2006)

The “Body Worlds” exhibition in Miami surrounds James Bond with dead bodies. Filming took place in Prague – deep inside the Vitkov Monument.

Why Bond was here
James Bond (Daniel Craig) is on a mission to dry out the money funds of crime financier Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen). Le Chiffre plays the stock market on shares of airplane manufacturer Skyfleet and wants to blow up a Skyfleet prototype at Miami International Airport. He hires a terrorist, the exchange of the explosive device is to happen at a “Body World” exhibition – a display of preserved human bodies.

The cloak room at the Viktov Monument

How you gonna get there
Filming didn’t took place in Miami at all. The crew went to Prague, where they filmed the exterior of the “Body Worlds” exhibition hall at the Transport Ministry and the interior scenes with the preserved bodies inside the Vitkov Monument.
The monument is part of the Czech National Museum situated on Žižkov hill, an elevation in the eastern part of Prague. Atop is a rugged concrete monument with a giant equestrian statue in front of it.
To get there, you can walk uphill west from the metro hub Florenc or the closer bus stop U Památníku. As the climb is very steep, you can also approach from the eastern side. Take a stop at Ohrada station and then take a nice stroll at the hill crest towards the monument.

The “Body Worlds” exhibtion inside the Viktov Monument

Good to know
The park on Žižkov hill is a favorite to many people in Prague. Take a walk to smell the city vibe off the touristic center. To visit the movie locations, you have to enter the museum inside the memorial. One ticket for the whole object – including a roof with a superb view over Prague – is 120 CZK.
The cloak room used for filming is in the basement. It is not the same cloak room at the entrance – but one, the museum team uses for special events only. If you want to see it, it might be locked. So better ask a staff member to open it for you. Also, there is no permanent “Body Worlds” exhibition – they prepped the bodies for filming only.
“Body Worlds” itself is real though. The show is based on the ideas of controversial German taxidermist Gunther von Hagen and his exhibition “Körperwelten”. It tours around the world and has a permanent outlet in Berlin – you can find more information on the “Körperwelten” homepage.

The museum management knows about Casino Royale – but many employees, who work there now, don’t. So the staff at the entry was quite confused, why we wanted to visit a cloak room. They showed it to us anyway and were quite charming. One employee also recalled other visitors. So day by day the staff should get used to Bond Hunters at their basement.

© 2015 Huntingbond (1,4), © 2006 United Artists Corporation and Danjaq, LLC (2,3)