Sightseeing in Prague (Old Town)

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We then took the Metro from Karlovo nam to Staromestska, the old town. As we turned right, we could see St Nicholas Church, Tyn Church, Jan Hus’ statue, which we remembered seeing in 2005. We headed for the Old Town Hall and popped in the tourist information centre to exchange the voucher for Prague Card. We purchased 3-day Prague Card: we were offered unlimited journeys on the public transport, free entries to 50 museums/galleries and discounts on some museums and restaurants between 22^nd and 24^th June.

















It was 10 minutes before 12 o’clock when we reached in front of the astronomical clock. Many tourists had gathered to see the excitement at 12 o’clock. It was the first time my parents had been to Prague and they had never seen the astronomical clock. My father managed to find a good position to take photos of figures at 12 o’clock, but later commented that, compared to the attractive and lively characters appearing on the Marienplatz’s clock in Munich, the figures appearing from the astronomical clock were so small and they only came out just for a short time: to be short, Prague’s astronomical clock wasn’t as great as he had expected. I told my parents that this astronomical clock was produced and attached on this building (the Old Town Hall) in the 15^th century and its mechanism is quite simple – 12 apostles appear come out from two windows every hour and their movements are so quick and many tourists miss how they appear; that’s why tourists repeatedly stand in front of the clock every hour!



I also pointed them at Minute House with distinctive sgraffito decoration of biblical and mythological scenes – the most memorable Renaissance buildings in Prague.







We then walked to Church of Our Lady Before Tyn. With its distinctive Gothic towers, Tyn Church is one of the emblems of Prague’s Old Town. The entrance of Tyn Church seemed to have been blocked by two historic buildings (one of them has been converted into the art gallery and the other two have been converted into the restaurants). It was a job to find the entrance; in fact, we walked around the entire square of the church. At my bottom of my heart, I was a little embarrassed not to be able to find the entrance while showing my parents round. Mark managed to find one of the arches leading to the entrance for the church. Tyn Church was constructed with three aisles including High Altar at the end of the central aisle with the splendid paintings. There were six altars with outstanding paintings and carvings on the wall and furniture. The church appeared a typical Catholic church.



The Old Town Square stands the memorial to Jan Hus, the Czech reformer and he gave doctrine at Tyn Church in the 15^th century. At that time, it was opened as a Protestant Church. However, after 30 years of war, the church was transformed to a Catholic Church. Protestant followers got angry with it, and in later years they built up buildings to block up the church’s entrance. By the modern period, together with Tyn Church, these buildings were regarded as historic buildings: the conflicts of Catholic and Protestant followers and these days’ rules of historic buildings have made tourists awkward to find the entrance of the emblematic church.



We had lunch at the restaurant near Tyn Church. We hadn’t eaten dessert; we both ate apple strudel. My parents had Italian food.

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Photos

Astronomical clock
Tourists gather around the Astronomical Clock to see the figures - they appear every hour but very quick and small to see!

Church of Our Lady Before Tyn
This church's entrance is facing to the Old Town and its entrance door was constructed on the west as with other churches.

House of Minute
One of the typical Renaissance buildings in Prague