Must See
Prague
Castle
Prague Castle (Prazsky Hrad, or just hrad to
the Czechs) may be the largest ancient castle in the world - 570m (1870ft) long, an
average of 128m (420ft) wide and occupying 7.28 hectares (18 acres). It's the most popular
tourist attraction in Prague, but at least there's plenty of room to spread out.
The castle has been the seat of Czech
government since Prince Borivoj founded the first fortified settlement here in the 9th
century, though current president Václav Havel has chosen to live in his smaller (and
less touristed) home on the outskirts of the city.
Some of the complex's highlights, like the Spanish
Hall and Rudolf Gallery, are only open one Saturday a year
(usually in early May). The rest of the castle's collection of architectural and artistic
marvels, created over the course of the last millennium, are on exhibit.
The most popular edifices include Gothic St
Vitius Cathedral (1344), its rich decorations epitomized by the glittering Chapel
of St Wenceslas; the Old Royal Palace (1135) and its jousting and
coronation hall, still used for the swearing in of new presidents; and the Royal
Garden (1569), where homesick Hapsburgs surrounded their badminton courts with
beautiful flowers and striking Italian Renaissance residences.
Don't miss Prague Castle's less famous
attractions, such as the network of tunnels the communist government
built in 1950 for easy access to the bomb shelters. Other interesting artifacts include
the Battling Titans statues (1767-70; Ignac Platzer), which oversee the
hourly changing of the guards, and the Toy Museum, featuring one of the
world's largest collections, with items dating back to ancient Greece.
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Hradcany
Hradcany, the residential area around the west
gate of Prague Castle, was made a town in its own right in 1320. Before it became a
borough of Prague in 1598 it suffered heavy damage: in the Hussite wars and in the Great
Fire of 1541. Nevertheless, the area is an outdoor museum of well-kept antiquities.
Hradcany Namesti has kept its
shape since the Middle Ages. At its center is a column by Ferdinand Brokoff (1726)
commemorating Prague's struggle against the plague. Startling Scwartzenburg Palace and
other examples of baroque- and rococo-style residences make the area an architecture
buff's wet dream.
A short walk west will bring you to Loretanske
Namesti, created in the 18th century when Cernin Palace (now home to the foreign
ministry) was built. The square's main attraction is the Loreta (1626), an extraordinary
baroque place of pilgrimage designed to resemble the house of the Virgin Mary. It's
surrounded by several lovely chapels and an eye-popping treasury, which features the
tasteful Prague Sun, made of solid silver and plenty of gold and inlaid with 6222
diamonds.
Another worthwhile destination in the Hradcany
is Strahov Monastery (1140; completed in the 18th century), which
features a baroque church where Mozart is said to have tickled the ivories, and the
Strahov Library, with its unreal collection of tomes and education-themed frescos. It was
a functioning monastery until the communist government closed the doors (and imprisoned
most of the monks); monks have been trickling back in over the past few years.
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Mala Strana
Mala Strana (the Small Quarter) clusters around
the foot of Prague Castle. Most visitors pass through on steep Royal Way, as they climb to
the castle, but the narrow side streets of this baroque quarter are worth examining in
their own right. Almost too picturesque for its own good, the district is now a favorite
for movie and commercial sets.
Mala Strana started up in the 8th or 9th
centuries as a market settlement, and was chartered in 1257 by Premysl Otakar II. Its
castle-front location has long attracted visitors, friends and foes alike: It was all but
destroyed in the Hussite wars of 1419. Charming churches and palaces in the area date from
the 17th and 18th centuries, with renaissance facades that were late-'baroquified.'
Along the Royal Way, Nerudova Ulice
is the quarter's most architecturally important street. Gems like the House of Two
Suns, where poet Jan Neruda penned Tales of the Little Quarter (along with plenty
of influential liberal essays and articles), and Bretfield Palace are two
great examples of Czech artistry.
Dominating the quarter is St Nicholas
Church, not to be confused with the eponymous chapel on Old Town Square. This
exquisite building, with its huge green cupola, houses the largest fresco in Europe,
Johann Kracker's 1770 Life of St Nicholas.
Also fine for strolling are the grounds of Wallestein
Palace, where summer concerts are often held, and quiet Vojan Park,
established in 1248.
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Petrin Hill
This 318m (1043ft) hill is topped with a
network of eight parks, comprising one of Prague's largest green spaces. It's great for
cool, quiet walks and postcard-perfect views of the 'City of 100 Spires.' Once upon a
time, the hill was draped with vineyards, and you can still see the quarry that provided
stone for most of Prague's Romanesque and Gothic buildings.
You can tone your thigh muscles hiking up from
Hradcany or Strahov, or take the funicular railway for the same price as
a tram ride. Just south of the cable-car terminus is Stefanik Observatory,
where anyone can enjoy an enhanced view of a clear and starry night.
North of the terminus on the summit is Petrin
Tower, a 62m (203ft) copy of the Eiffel Tower, built for the 1891 Prague
Exposition. You can climb its 299 steps for a small fee. On a clear day, you'll be able to
take in sublime views of the central Bohemian woodlands.
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Old Town Square
The centerpiece of Stare Mesto (Old Town) is
the huge 1.7 hectare (4.2 acre) Old Town Square. It has been Prague's
working heart since the 10th century, and hosted its largest market until the beginning of
the 20th century. It's surrounded by a maze of alleys and is home to some of Prague's most
famous monuments.
Despite the over-the-top commercialism and
crowds of tourists swarming the place, it's impossible not to enjoy yourself here - cafes
spilling onto the pavement, buskers and performing dogs, and silly horse-drawn beer wagons
all conspire to elevate the area from ridiculous to sublime. It's also a great venue for
outdoor concerts, political meetings and other public events. Landislav Saloun's brooding
art nouveau sculpture of Jan Hus dominates the square the same way the
martyr's memory dominates Czech history. It was erected on July 6, 1915, 500 years after
the religious reformer was burned at the stake.
Nearby, Old Town Hall (1338)
was cobbled from a series of row houses, including Franz Kafka's childhood home, by a
cash-poor city council. Though it took heavy damage in WWII, the famous Astronomical
Clock (1410) survives. Visitors intent on ogling the mechanical marvel wait for
the hourly show, when Death rings a bell and inverts his hourglass and a parade of
apostles parade by, nodding to the crowd.
Stroll down the Royal Way to the Vlatava, where
the Charles Bridge has endured traffic for 600 years - thanks, legend
says, to eggs mixed into the mortar. Monuments and statues of historic importance, dating
from 1657 to 1858, provide a dramatic frame for views up and down the river. Don't get
completely caught up in the crush of beauty and tourists, however; pickpockets work the
bridge day and night.
Other sights worth seeking out around the
square include Powder Tower (1475), where the defenestration craze got
started; Kinsky Palace (1765), with Prague's finest rococo facade; and St
James Church (1350s), a Gothic gem that includes the over-the-top tomb of Count Jan
Vratislav and the shriveled arm of an unlucky thief who tried to make off with the
Virgin's jewelry.
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Josefov (Old Jewish Quarter)
This slice of Stare Mesto contains the remains
of the once-thriving neighborhood of Josefov, Prague's former Jewish ghetto. The
half-dozen old synagogues, a ceremonial hall and the powerfully melancholic Old Jewish
Cemetery were perversely preserved by Nazi leaders, who declared them to be a 'museum of
an extinct race. 'Instead, all have survived as a memorial to seven centuries of
oppression.
The Old-New Synagogue (1270)
is Europe's oldest working synagogue; you step down into it because it predates the
raising of Stare Mesto's streets against floods. Men must wear hats (conveniently for sale
at the entrance), while women are relegated to an anteroom where they can observe
male-only services. It's worth the trouble.
The Pinkas Synagogue (1535) is
a handsome place of worship inscribed with the names, birth dates and dates of
disappearance of 77,297 Bohemian and Moravian Holocaust victims, while the 1868 Spanish
Synagogue, named for its striking Moorish interior, offers an exhibit on Jews in
the Czech Republic from emancipation to the present day.
Perhaps the most visceral of Prague's
memorials, the Old Jewish Cemetery, Europe's old surviving Jewish burial
ground, has been a monument to dignity in the face of persecution and suffering since the
15th century. Thousands of crumbling stones from other, long-razed cemeteries are heaped
atop as many as 100,000 graves; in contrast are the elaborate bas-relief markers from the
17th and 18th centuries. The oldest marker (1439; now replaced with a replica) is that of
Avigdor Karo, a chief rabbi and court poet to Wenceslas IV.
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