It is situated in the centre of Prague in a small block of buildings right next to Charles Bridge on the right bank of the river Vltava in the Old Town (Novotného lávka 1, Praha 1).

The building, designed by Antonín Wiehl, which was formerly owned by Prague Water Company, has housed the Smetana Museum since 1936.

The upper floors house archive material relating to Smetana, providing a centre for research.

The visitor is able to listen to extracts from these works by zapping the required music stand with an electronic baton.

The embodiment of this movement was the National Theatre which opened in November 1883 with a performance of a specially written opera by Smetana, Libuše, which deals with the legendary story of the foundation of Prague.