Prague Part 2

While we walked around Prague we found a fascinating candy shop. This is a GIANT strawberry flavored marshmallow topped with an incredibly hard, baked meringue "stem." We just had to try this. Actually it was quite good.

We also encountered the Trdelnik. The pronunciation I believe would be something like Ter-del-neek. The trdelnik is a sweet, fire cooked, cylindrical cake of an addictive nature which is widely available from street vendors in tourist areas year round and seasonally in less touristy regions. That sounds a lot better than spit cake which it is also called. They are a staple at Christmas markets, and any large public event with food stalls will invariably have at least one trdelník stand in the mix. Dough is rolled into thin strips, wound around a spindle called a “trdlo”, glazed with sugar and grilled over open coals or low gas fire until the dough is cooked brown and the sugar caramelized. After the cooking is complete, they are rolled in trays containing a mix of sugar, cinnamon and chopped nuts before being served.

This is a chain of shops that produces Trdelniks. They are found all over the Prague but the origin of the Trdelnik is not Czech. How it became a snack staple here is not clear, but the true origin of the Trdelnik may be the Transylvania area of Romania.

These are served plain or filled with ice cream and covered with chocolate sauce, nuts, etc. There are quite a few variations. With ice cream they put a small cookie in the bottom so things don't run out! We shared one with vanilla soft serve ice cream. The ice cream was pretty good (we don't have ice cream very often at home). The Trdelnik was OK but not fantastic.

More about the architecture of the city...
The Powder Tower construction began in 1475. The Tower was one of the original 13 city gates in Old Town Prague. The Powder Tower was mean to be a decorative entrance to the city as opposed to being a defensive tower. The foundation stone was laid by Vladislav II and the style was inspired by the architect of the Charles Bridge. The gate tower was used to store gunpowder in the late 17th century and the name stuck.

These are the best photos we have of the Tyn Church (Cathedral of our Lady Before Tyn)off in the distance. That's the Astronomical Clock in the foreground. We did not venture inside the Tyn Church, but walked past it quite a few times.  It is said to be the most impressive Gothic religious building in Prague and was constructed from the mid-14th century into the early 16th century. The towers are 80 meters tall. At the end of the 17th century, the interior was redone in the Baroque style following a fire.  This church apparently houses an interesting collection of Renaissance and early Baroque artworks. You can see the crowds that had gathered to watch the clock perform.

We took all sorts of "walks" around town visiting Old Town Square and Wenceslas Square to name just two. In Old Town we saw the Klementium complex.  It was founded by Jesuits in 1556. The order members began to expand the premises in 1653. Reconstruction lasted 170 years. It was merged with a university at one point. The Jesuits left in 1773. Now Klementium is the seat of the National Library.

In 1620, the Kingdom of Bohemia was integrated into the Hapsburg monarchy as one of three parts alongside the Archduchy of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary. Ferdinand II became King of Bohemia.

We were on the hunt for the Wallenstein Palace Gardens in Lesser Town (on the other side of the Charles Bridge) when we got lost and ended up at the Prague Castle for the second time. We did get to see a lot of Old Town and Lesser Town along the way.

It turns out we'd walked right past the entrance because the entrance was only marked in one direction- the direction we were walking after we'd and turned around. Then we saw the single small sign.

The Wallenstein Palace was the first monumental early Baroque secular building in Prague. The effect of the Baroque style was an over-the-top display of wealth and power. Signature elements included big cupolas, marble columns, ornately painted frescoes and lots of marble and gold.

Some facts on Wallenstein Palace: Built between 1623 and 1629 on the site of 26 houses, 6 gardens,  2 brickworks and one plot of land for the most powerful and wealthiest nobleman of the time- Albrecht von Wallenstein. The gardens were built at the same time. The Czech Republic Senate uses it today. This garden includes a fake grotto.

The garden is geometric.

 A really good example of the Baroque painted frescoes.

These are all replacement statues. The originals were taken as spoils of war  in 1648 and are now still in Sweden.

Me in the gardens playing with my selfie feature again. Still trying to figure out the selfie thing. Notice the jacket and scarf. Chilly!

In 1627, the Bohemian crown was designated as hereditary in the Hapsburg family. No election or other acceptance required. There wold be only one Christian religion- Roman Catholic, though the Jewish population was allowed to remain. Prague was one of the largest populations of Jewish people in Europe. Prominent Protestants were given a choice to convert or emigrate —large numbers did emigrate. Many peasants left as well.

An aside to the history lesson: In 1689 Prague suffered a great fire which spurred renovation and building!  The rebuilding was done in the Baroque style with plenty of beautiful palaces, churches and gardens being constructed.

The Baroque style was dominant in the Czech lands even into the second half of the 18th century.

Another Baroque gem is the St. Nicholas Church in Old Town built from 1732 to 1737. The facade holds more modern changes. Interestingly, there is also a St. Nicholas Church in Lesser Town. Very confusing!

So ornate.

Moving forward with another large leap, the Holy Roman Empire ended in 1806 with help from Napolean and the French. Some of the military campaigns took place on Czech and Slovak lands. Holy Roman Emperor Francis II abdicated his title and became Francis I, Emperor of Austria. In 1867 Emperor Francis Joseph I established the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy of the Austrian Empire and Kingdom of Hungary. Francis Joseph I ruled until his death in 1916.

THE MUNICPAL HOUSE
A true latecomer to the architecture of Prague, the Municipal House was built between 1905 and 1911 in the Art Nouveau style. On the lowest level is the American Bar which claims to be the second oldest bar in Europe.  All sorts of events are held at the Municipal House. It's really pretty at night.

Now on to a factoid many may know: in 1914, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated. We were able to visit the prison cell occupied by this assassin. More on that later.

For most of Prague's history it was an ethnically mixed city with German, Czech and Jewish populations. Near the beginning of the 20th century the idea of a Czecho-Slovak entity was considered by the Czech and Slovak leaders. After the close of WWI, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had ended and independent Czechoslovakia (including Bohemia) had been created with Prague chosen as the capital. The new nation even controlled 70-80% of all of the industry of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire and in 1938  Czechoslovakia was listed as one of the 10 most industrialized countries in the world.