Prague Part 1

Why Prague, Czech Republic?

There were 3 key reasons. We wanted to travel. Several individuals had relayed stories about wonderful trips to Prague. Because Prague is located in the Northern Hemisphere and it was mid-October, it seemed like a great way to visit an interesting place and experience fall temperatures at the same time.

Architecture lovers need to travel to Prague. It's amazing. I've tried to be as accurate with the bits of historical information as possible.

Czech dollars (Korunas pronounced Crowns) and a few coins! (B comment ~22 Crowns to the USD)

Our hotel (built in 1989 no not at all historic).

Prague has been able to maintain architectural gems intact because the city was not rebuilt like most European capital cities during the 18th or 19th centuries. Also, Prague was spared the destruction that destroyed many European cities during World War II, though apparently a large area was destroyed by several allied bombings (possibly by mistake) in February, 1945. [The human element of Prague did not fair as well. Prague citizens were oppressed and persecuted. Most of the Jewish population either fled or were killed in the Holocaust.]

To be sure, Prague is a sort of “museum of architecture under the open sky.”  The largest urban historical center listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List it includes some 4000 monuments. Today, Prague holds one of the world's most pristine and varied collections of Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, neo-classicism, Art Nouveau, cubism, and even ultra-modern architecture. Unique in the world is cubism, elsewhere limited to paintings but here materialized in architecture as well.

Here is just a little of the deeply rich and constantly changing history of the region. It all started out simply. From about 500 BC, the Celtic tribe Boii gave their name to the region Bohemia. Later Germanic and Slavic tribes inhabited the region. Later, Bohemia was a Duchy of Great Moravia, then a Kingdom in the Holy Roman Empire and subsequently a part of the Hapsburg Monarchy and the Austrian Empire.

From 900 -1306 the Czech Premyslid Dynasty ruled most of Bohemia. The Luxembourg Dynasty took over when the sister of the last Premyslid ruler married John of Luxembourg. John and his son, Charles IV, ruled much of the 14th century. During the reign of Charles IV, Gothic architectural style left a deep mark on the city and its environs, as exemplified by the Charles Bridge, St. Vitus’s Cathedral, and others. 

THE CHARLES BRIDGE 
Charles IV placed the foundation stone for the Charles Bridge in 1357.

(The above photo is not ours. ) The bridge is a city landmark and the oldest preserved Prague bridge. It replaced a wooden bridge which a fire destroyed in 1156 and and a stone bridge destroyed in a flood in 1342. The bridge is in Gothic style but has Baroque sculptures on it- the first of which was installed in 1657. Now, all of the sculptures are replicas. The bridge was deemed an "unsafe" location for the genuine artworks ( flooding, ice in winter, etc.) so they were replaced. According to research, Gothic architecture includes soaring towers, spires, buttresses and the "ribbed vault" featuring pointed arches.

There are several legends that a sword is buried in the bridge. A spirit, Saint or other "helpful" entity is supposed to reclaim the sword at some point! Hasn't happened yet.

We first walked across the bridge on a Sunday. It was beautiful weather but the bridge was very crowded. 

Closeup of a tower on the bridge. Three towers are adjacent to the bridge. This is the Old Town tower and was completed before 1380. Lots of sculptures on the tower. The bridge itself is 1000 feet long and 33 feet wide.

Later in the week with less crowds but colder and more grey!

All sorts of vendors, craftsmen and musicians were on the bridge each time we crossed it.

Just a couple of the 30-something sculptures on the bridge.

The far side of the bridge nearing Lesser Town and the Prague Castle. 
There are two towers on this side.

Views from the Charles Bridge.

Pretty trees.

This was another trip where we spent most of each day walking all over town.

PRAGUE CASTLE
As you cross the Bridge, you can see the Prague Castle in the background. 

The castle is the "largest coherent castle complex in the world" and is part of the UNESCO World Heritage List. It includes multiple palaces and ecclesiastical buildings, fortification buildings, offices, gardens and picturesque spots like shop-lined Golden Lane. The buildings are of several architectural styles from the 10th century through present day.Czech kings are buried here. The Crown Jewels of Czech kings are kept here. You buy your entry ticket based on what you want to see. We visited St. Vitus Cathedral, the Old Royal Palace, St. George's Basilica and Golden Lane on our ticket. So much pressure to pick which things you wanted to see!

ST. VITUS CATHEDRAL
Again, Gothic architecture- notice the spires! Begun in 1344, this cathedral took 600 years to finish- 1929! Inside is the St. Wenceslas Chapel with the tomb of St. Wenceslas, the crypt where Czech kings are buried and the Crown Chamber with the Crown Jewels.

  Notice the "ribbed vaults".

The stained glass in this place was beautiful. Light penetrates the windows adding special effects to the interior.

CHAPEL OF ST. WENCESLAS
Perhaps the most outstanding place in the cathedral is the Chapel of St. Wenceslas, which houses relics of the Saint. Built between 1344 and 1364 it has a ribbed vault. The lower portions of the walls are decorated with over 1300 semi-precious stones and paintings depicting the Passion of Jesus dating from the original decoration of the chapel in 1372–1373. The upper area of the walls have paintings depicting the life of St. Wenceslas (painted between 1506 and 1509). Above the altar, is a Gothic statue of St. Wenceslas created 1373. It also houses the tombs of Bohemian kings. The Chapel is not open to the public, but it can be viewed from the doorways.

A small door with seven locks, in the southwest corner of the chapel, leads to the Crown Chamber containing the Czech Crown Jewels, which are displayed to the public only once every (circa) eight years.

Doorway views  (we could see several very fancy tombs):

 Tomb of St. John of Nepomuk

SAINT GEORGE'S BASILICA

St. George's Basilica is the oldest preserved church building at Prague Castle and the best example of Romanesque interior architecture in Bohemia. Built around 920 and rebuilt in the 13th century is has a Baroque facade from the 17th century.  The inside just doesn't match the outside at all.

Romanesque is the style of the oldest buildings still standing in Prague. This style is often circular, ex. rotundas, and the interiors are starker and simpler than the Gothic style.

Charles IV succeeded in getting his son Wenceslas crowned as King Wenceslas IV of the Romans (meaning, essentially, Holy Roman emperor-elect) in 1376. 

ASTRONOMICAL CLOCK, OLD TOWN

Nearby also in Old Town is the Astronomical Clock. The clock was first installed in 1410.  It is mounted on the southern wall of Old Town Hall (established in 1338) in the Old Town Square. This is part of the oldest section of the original Town Hall complex.The eastern wing of the Town Hall was destroyed on May 8, 1945, in a clash between Czech resistance and German occupying forces. It was not rebuilt. Currently, this building is undergoing renovation but the clock can still be seen. And artists have recreated the look of the building on one side of the wrap to help us appreciate the beauty of the building we cannot see. The square fills with tourists every hour to watch the show. Men can be seen selling all types of Clock souvenirs. 

The clock was repaired and improved in the 16 century but it was faulty at that point and even stopped working for a long time. Major repairs were done in 1865 but the German Army damaged the clock in 1945. Some statues had to be repaired/replaced.

This isn't our photo, but you can see things a little better.

The clock mechanism itself has three main components: the astronomical dial, representing the position of the Sun and Moon in the sky and displaying various astronomical details; "The Walk of the Apostles", a clockwork hourly show of figures of the Apostles and other moving sculptures—notably a figure of Death (represented by a skeleton) striking the time; and a calendar dial with medallions representing the months. Here's some info to try to explain this complicated clock!

"The Astronomical Dial shows the medieval perception of the Universe: the Earth is the center. The blue part of the dial represents the sky above the horizon, the brown part the sky below it. There are Latin words ORTVS (east) and OCCASVS (west) written above the horizon, and AVRORA (dawn) and CPEPVSCVLVM (twilight) below. There is a Zodiac ring, which represents the stars in the sky and it moves according to it. The two clock hands bear the signs of the Sun and the Moon. 

There are three circles on the dial, showing different time: the outer circle with Schwabacher numerals shows the Old Czech Time (“Italian Time”), the circle with Roman numbers shows the Central European Time and the inner circle with Arabic numerals shows the “Babylonian Time”: the length of an hour differs there according to the season – it is longer in the summer, shorter in the winter. The Prague Astronomical Clock is the only one in the world able to measure it. Furthermore, the little star by the zodiac ring shows the sidereal time.

The newest part of the clock is the Calendar Dial. There is the Prague Old Town symbol in the centre. The rotary outer circle describes every single day of the year, and the current date is indicated at the top. There are also medallions with zodiac signs and with pictures depicting every month."

The show only lasts 45 seconds. I read that it was supposed to be out of commission due to the renovations so maybe we saw an abbreviated show? I didn't time the "show."

Crunching leaves.

More history and architecture...
By 1437 the male line of the Luxembourg Dynasty died out- a second male line die out! Jump forward again. New king, new king, new king... . For a while,  Bohemia even had 2 kings at the same time.  I don't really understand this part!

After 1526, Bohemia came under the control of the House of Hapsburg, first as elected rulers and later as hereditary rulers. Ferdinand I of Hapsburg, presented his claims to rule to the vacant thrones of Bohemia and Hungary. The coronation took place in February 1527. Beginning in 1531 he assisted his brother, the emperor Charles V, in the affairs of the Holy Roman Empire.  

OLD ROYAL PALACE
Next up the Old Royal Palace. This palace was the seat of the Bohemian rulers until the 16th century. It's built on remains of a Romanesque palace. Today, the Gothic Vladislav Hall is used for ceremonial state events. Originally the vast hall was used for banquets, councils and coronations, and for indoor jousting tournaments – hence the Riders’ Staircase designed to admit a knight on horseback. (Yep, it's a weird staircase but sorry no pix.  Apparently we didn't take any photos.)

A door in the hall’s southwestern corner leads to the former offices of the Bohemian Chancellery . On May 23, 1618, in the second room, Protestant nobles, rebelling against the Bohemian estates and the Habsburg emperor, threw two counselors and their scribe out of the window. They survived, as their fall was broken by the dung-filled moat (yuck!), but this Second Defenestration of Prague sparked off the Thirty Years’ War.

GOLDEN LANE
It is a series of small houses built into the Gothic fortifications of the Prague Castle. Castle marksmen and artisans lived here during the 16th century. Franz Kafka lived and worked in house no. 22 from 1916-1917.

Views from Prague Castle.

Pretty touches of fall on this lovely day.

We actually ended up back at the Prague Castle a second time probably due to miscommunication of the directions. The first time we did hop on a tram to find the easiest access into the Castle. Our second trip there was all on foot and included a long climb.  More view photos.

I noticed immediately that women do not wear high heels in this town. The pedestrian areas and sidewalks are inlaid cobblestone with pretty large gaps that would easily catch a thin heel. I'm sure they change into heels in the office, etc., but on the street, flats rule! I took a lot of pictures of the cobblestones.