The monumental, horizontally oriented Neoclassical grave commemorates one of Prague’s most prominent families in the field of construction. It remains uncertain whether or to what extent the engineer and architect Matěj Blecha himself was involved in designing his family grave. A year after its completion, Kámen magazine published it as the work of Theodor Brož, but his ties to Blecha’s company remain the subject of continued research. It is possible that he was merely involved in its physical realization. The grave’s prestigious location and the overall quality of the design definitely do not rule out the involvement or even direct authorship of either Matěj or his son Josef (1896–1958), who was also an architect and subsequently owner of the family business. Moreover, research undertaken by Vojtěch Odcházel indicates that Matěj began the process of handing over his company as early as in 1916 and that, in relation to this transfer of assets, he may have also sought to arrange his final affairs, including the construction of a family crypt.

Thanks to his family’s prestigious construction company, Matěj ­Blecha could study civil engineering at the Czech technical school in Prague and, subsequently, at Vienna’s Technische Universität. In Vienna, he also studied architecture at the Akademie der bildenden Künste. In 1890, his brother Josef welcomed him into the family business. Josef died ten years later, followed by Matěj’s other brother Alois two years after that, and so Matěj Blecha became the owner of the family’s established construction business. Blecha collaborated with leading architects such as Osvald Polívka, Antonín Wiehle, Josef Gočár, Josef Zasche, and Otakar Novotný and was active not just in the Czech lands but also in Italy, Serbia, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Ukraine, and even the West Indies. 

From 1909 to 1914, the Blecha company’s main designer was the young progressive architect Emil Králíček, who among other things worked in the new Cubist style. The brief Cubist period found expression in several of the company’s projects, including the Diamant House on Spálená Street, the iconic street lamp behind the Adam Pharmacy, and the Šupich Building with the Rokoko Theatre (where the Cubist style was limited to the interior courtyard).

The light Požáry granite grave monument, characterized by a simple composition and a sense of monumentality, embraces Neoclassicism – a style that was quite popular in funerary architecture. The low-slung corner grave is characterized by the recurring presence of the number three, possibly a reference to the Holy Trinity. The monument is divided into three sections, with three massive fluted half-columns in the two lateral sections (today overgrown in ivy) holding up smooth architraves, and a simple stone stele with three marble slabs in the central section. The middle slab is dedicated to Blecha and his wife; beneath it, a plaque commemorates their grandson Matěj and his wife, who are buried in Canada. The tombstone is decorated with a massive bronze laurel wreath.