Crews transform the city center into Gilded Age New York as filming intensifies across the Czech capital

Prague’s historic center has once again stepped into a starring role. Over the past week, crews for Netflix’s limited series “The Age of Innocence” have rolled cameras at a string of downtown locations, culminating in a transformation of Politických vězňů Street into Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue as it might have appeared in the 1870s. The short, stone-canopied stretch between Jindřišská and Opletalová now bristles with period set dressing: gas lanterns, polished carriage lamps, iron hitching posts and storefront windows wiped of any trace of the 21st century.

The makeover follows days of filming near the National Theatre and on Rytířská Street, where crews prepped façades and cobbles to pass as Gilded Age New York. On Politických vězňů alone, roughly a dozen green-painted ‘gasoliers’ were planted curbside, creating a corridor of lamplight that turns the corridor into an elegant promenade once dusk falls. The evocative re-skin underscores Prague’s reputation for chameleon-like versatility—a city that can, with the right angles and art direction, be Vienna before lunch and New York by night.

The eight-part series adapts Edith Wharton’s 1920 Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, a piercing look at love and social constraint within New York’s haute society. British writer-director Emma Frost, known for historical dramas including “The White Queen” and “Jamaica Inn,” is attached to steer the project for Netflix. A cast led by Kristine Froseth, Camila Morrone and Ben Radcliffe—joined by Margo Martindale, Fiona Glascott, Belinda Bromilow, Hayley Mills, Will Tudor and others—brings fresh faces to a story most widely remembered from Martin Scorsese’s sumptuous 1993 film.

While Prague often stands in for a generalized ‘old Europe,’ the decision to recreate Victorian Manhattan on its streets speaks to the city’s architectural elasticity. The corridor around Politických vězňů offers handsome cornices, deep window bays and period-appropriate rhythms that can be coaxed into the look of Gilded Age retail fronts with relatively light interventions. Production designers have layered in reversible elements—awning frames, bespoke signage brackets, and ornamental lanterns—while leaving permanent surfaces untouched, a standard practice in the capital’s conservation zones.

Road closures, rolling resets — and a theatre box office goes dark

To accommodate the shoot, municipal authorities approved intermittent closures and controlled traffic holds within Prague 1. The Estates Theatre announced its box office on Železná would be closed on October 9 and 10 to make room for a film production using the premises—one of several signs that activity has spread across multiple historic venues in the center.

Locals and tourists have watched crews cycle through repeated ‘resets’: horses and period carriages shuttled out of frame, extras dressed in bustles and top hats for background passes, and modern details whisked out of sight between takes. Despite the bustle, businesses on adjoining streets report trade largely intact, with crew marshals guiding pedestrians around camera positions and ensuring access to doorways between takes.

“People are curious, but it’s been smooth,” said a coffee shop manager just off Politických vězňů. “They let customers through, and seeing the gas lamps lit at night is something special.”

Why Prague? Incentives, crews, and readymade atmosphere

Beyond its photogenic streets, Prague offers a mature production ecosystem: deep crew benches, cost-effective stages, and location support honed by decades of international shoots. Financially, Czechia’s audiovisual incentives continue to be a draw for streamers and studios, while the Prague Audiovisual Fund keeps a pipeline of projects flowing through the city. For ‘The Age of Innocence,’ proximity to ornate interiors, historic shopping arcades and adaptable streetscapes meant the production could move quickly between multiple 19th‑century looks without hopping countries.

The production’s New York look relies on art department flourishes you notice only when they’re gone: anachronistic signage veiled, bollards capped, traffic signals removed and lamp posts retrofitted. In dusk scenes, period lighting and warm filament bulbs take over, flattening the sharpness of modern fixtures and pulling the eye to costumes and carriages. The result is a convincing, lived-in streetscape that suggests Fifth Avenue commerce without requiring full-scale reconstruction.

From Wharton’s salons to streaming queues

Wharton’s novel turns on the unspoken—the pressure of social codes, the claustrophobia of reputation, and the fissures that open when desire crosses those lines. Translating that interiority to television will hinge on performances and the tactile richness of the world around them. In Prague’s center, you can already glimpse that world: hem lines brushing stone, bootheels striking cobble, window glass reflecting lamplight and the quick flash of a passing carriage.

Netflix has not yet announced a release date, but cameras are expected to continue around Prague through the autumn, with select sequences staged to represent different corners of 1870s Manhattan. For residents, it means more sightings of horse-drawn rigs, extras in black silk, and crews shepherding dawn and dusk into painterly tableaux. For the city’s film industry, it’s further confirmation that Prague remains one of Europe’s most agile backlots—capable of conjuring continents within a few blocks.

As Politických vězňů returns to its everyday rhythm, the lamplight will come down, the awning frames will vanish, and the traffic signals will reappear. But for a few nights this week, the street has offered a quiet piece of time travel—a window into the New York of a century and a half ago, made in the heart of 21st‑century Prague.

Sources

• Prague Morning: Netflix films ‘The Age of Innocence’ in Prague; Politických vězňů turned into Fifth Avenue (October 2025).

• Metro.cz: Ulice Politických vězňů se mění na Pátou Avenue okolo roku 1870 (October 2025).

• ČTK / Ceskenoviny.cz: Filmmakers turning Politických vězňů into New York street from 1870; series to have eight episodes (October 2025).

• The Prague Reporter: ‘The Age of Innocence’ kicks off Prague shoot; project details and cast (October 2025).

• National Theatre (ND): Estates Theatre box office closure due to filming, October 9–10, 2025.