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Published: July 21st 2008
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We spent our last four days together in Prague, strolling the streets, eating meat and dumplings, drinking beer, and taking in the architecture while dodging the germans and spaniards dominating the streets. Lucky for us, we managed to score an apartment in an area of town right near the top of Wenceslas Square. While the apartment itself was wildly unspectacular, the location was perfect and gave us easy access to all the major sites and some interesting back alleys not often visited by tourists. Lucky for us, my friend Jon who is originally from Prague was in town on one of our last days there so after bumbling around on our own for a few days we got a more personal look at the city and sore feet from getting lost in the winding cobblestone streets together. We loved it. Thanks Jon!
Wenceslas Square is the main center of modern Prague and is surrounded by shops, cinemas, office blocks, hotels, restaurants and cafés. In the middle of the square is a monument of St. Wenceslas on a horse accompanied with sculptures of four Czech patron saints. Jon tells me it is a common meeting point for locals as they agree
Statuesque
Near Welceslas Square to meet 'under the tail' before going out for drinks or other social events.
As you come down the hill, you start filtering into The Old Town and its Square. Old Town Square dates from around the 10th century and was the main market place until the early 20th century. There are beautiful pastel-colored buildings of Romanesque or Gothic origin with fascinating house signs. We were in town during Euro Cup 2008 and the square had been transformed into a large beer garden and screening room for fans to watch the game and cheer on their favorite teams. In the square there are several churches as well as the monument of the Protestant reformer Jan Hus, burnt as a heretic in 1415. Old Town City Hall is on one edge with its Astronomical Clock prominently displayed on the south face. It announces every hour with 12 figures passing by the window above the astronomical dial. Crowds gather to watch the clock do its work. The Astronomical Dial shows the medieval perception of the Universe: the Earth is the center.
We crossed the river using the Charles Bridge which was named after Emperor Charles IV in the 19th century,
Powder Tower
Used to store gunpowder but is over 600 years old. Unbelievably given its narrow width, most of those years it had wheeled traffic, trams and pedestrians crossing it all at once. Now it has been pedestrianised and is chock full of tourists and locals using it to cross from Old Town to Lesser Town across the way. It is dotted with reproductions of the original bronze sculptures that adorned it and on the gloomy morning we crossed it there were a few biblical scenes that came to mind... check out the pictures if you don't believe me!
The Lesser Town was founded in the 13th century on the slopes bellow the Prague castle and it is the part of Prague least affected by recent history. In Lesser Town Square we got to see the other St. Nicholas Church which is a lovely Baroque building we clambered around. We even got to climb up into the choir which is usually a forbidden area for visitors in the churches I have visited recently. The boys looked great peering down over the edge and I got a great shot of them at it too.
Perhaps thought of as the crowning glory of Prague, Praský Hrad
Old Town Square
monument of the Protestant reformer Jan Hus, burnt as a heretic in 1415 (or Prague Castle) is a giant complex that has been built over several generations of rule on the hill top above Lesser Town. The original castle was built in the 9th century and was made of wood, but it has since been rebuilt into its current form. Rulers made their own additions so there is a mixture of styles. It has always been the seat of Czech rulers as well as the official residence.
Emperor Charles IV started building St. Vitus Cathedral in the mid 1300´s and construction continued until it was mostly finished in a late-Gothic style. However, over the years, renaissance and baroque details were added and the building wasn't actually finished until the early 20th century. Yes, it took nearly 700 years to complete the building and one could argue that it remains incomplete today with respect to the architectural details such as stained glass and the towers of the cathedral being structurally finished but unadorned due to a lack of funds.
Late in the day, we made our way over to the Jewish Quarter which contains the remains of Prague's former Jewish ghetto. The current Jewish community numbers only 5000-6000 people as a result
of those who died during WWII and the others who were forced by the communist regime to leave the country. Of course, we planned our visit brilliantly and arrived... on Saturday. This meant we had a lovely time visiting various synagogues and landmarks, which we could only see from the outside. The Jewish Quarter contains the Old Jewish Cemetary which is Europe´s oldest surviving Jewish cemetery dating back to 1428. People had to be buried on top of each other because of lack of space, and there are about 12 layers and over 12,000 gravestones. The Old-New Synagogue dates from 1270 and is the oldest working synagogue in Europe and one of Prague's earliest Gothic buildings. The Spanish Synagogue and Pinkas Synagogue were both striking, but they are known for their interiors and so we were unable to appreciate them fully.
Overall, Prague is a wonderful town to stroll through. We put a lot of miles on our shoes during our days there and could still easily have spent a few more days exploring other quarters or neighborhoods. I was able to spend a couple more days there after my parent's departure and really got a feel for some
Regal
St. Nicholas Church, Old Town new areas we didn't have a chance to see together. No major monuments or pictures to share, but experiencing where people were living and working or students were sunning themselves on a warm summer's afternoon made for a lovely way to wrap up my time in the city. I wasn't carrying the camera much on those days as I was a bit photographed out and besides.. who wants to be responsible for a digital SLR when there are all those local watering holes to visit and brews to taste? With a local!
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