The abbey is a part of the monastery that serves as the abbot's residence. In the past, these spaces also included representative areas used for meetings of the abbot with distinguished guests. The provisorate is a part of the monastery that managed its economic activities. In its current form, it is of Baroque origin and even included a chapel that was adjacent to a nearby church.
The unmistakable silhouette of Strahov Monastery is primarily formed by the long wall of the abbey building. This structure evolved gradually from an originally independent Gothic building into the Baroque form it has today.
The inner courtyard of the monastery is accessed through a passageway in the provisory building; it was named after its original purpose for the monastery's provisor, who, aside from spiritual activities, also takes care of the material matters and needs of the canonry. Constructed at the end of the 17th century, where the central office of the canonry was also previously located, it features a facade with a statue of St. Norbert. The stone sculpture was created in 1740 under Abbot Marian Hermann. Inside the building, there was a provisional chapel with an oratory facing the basilica. Adjoining the provisory building on the south side is the prelature - the abbot's residence. In the basement of the long multi-story building, there are partially preserved Romanesque halls. The current building was initiated by Abbot Jan Lohelius (around 1600) and his successors, and completed in 1682 by Abbot Hyacinth Hohman. A staircase leads from the vaulted vestibule to the upper floor, where, besides the abbot's apartment, there were representative spaces. The largest hall of this wing is the former abbot's dining room. The ceiling painting, a work by Siard Nosecký from around 1727, represents the Old Testament scene "The Feast of King Belshazzar." Painted supraports with views into romantic landscapes date from around 1800. The walls of the dining room were also covered with rich ornamental paintings until the mid-20th century. Adjoining the dining room were other spacious halls for receiving guests, decorated with numerous paintings and historic furniture.
At the very end of the building is the former abbot's chapel, dedicated to St. John the Baptist from 1686. The vaults are covered with rich stucco decoration. In 1849, a remarkable tortoiseshell tabernacle was placed in the chapel. It was designed by Jan Blažej Santini-Aichel in 1715 for the Cistercian monastery in Plasy, and after its dissolution, it came into private ownership from where it was purchased for Strahov. The altar is now part of the art collections. In April 1950, the furniture of both the prelature and the provisory was confiscated and distributed to various institutions, and from 1953, the buildings were used by the Museum of National Literature. The entire complex, including these buildings, was returned to the monastery in restitution in 1990, and the former prelature building served the Museum of National Literature until 2022. Only a small portion of the original furniture returned to the monastery's possession.
