Standing right up against the inside of the castle walls are the houses of Golden Lane, built to house the Castle Guards at the end of the 16th century, later occupied by, among others, goldsmiths and...Franz Kafka. Kafka didn't actually live here; instead he rented and utilized #22 in 1916-17 so he could have a quiet place to write in the evenings after work.

It is now almost inconceivable to imagine that somebody of modest means could once have rented out one of these quaint little houses just to use it as a study. As is the fact that they would have done so because the place was quiet. As can be seen in these pictures, Golden Lane is a busy place today, in spite of the fact that one must buy a ticket -- and not an inexpensive one -- simply to walk along it.