Prague – a city of history, culture and good beer
You can reach Prague, the capital of Czech Republic, with just over 1 million of population, by a car, by plane, by rail or even on foot, starting in Slovenia. I've chosen the rail and have arrived a bit beaten after a night's ride over Vienna, to the Prague rail station. Our three day exploration of Prague has begun. A city known for its rich history, parties, good beer and a city where many world famous historical personalities come from – like Kafka, Smetana and Dvořák.
The public transport is well organized, branched off and quite cheap. At the same time all the attractions are within a walking distance, so you can explore them on foot.
On the right bank of Vltava, which flows through Prague quite lazily, is the old and new town of Prague, connected to Hradčani and the small side on the left bank via the famous Charles’s Bridge from the 14th century.
On the first day we were sleepy but full of expectation, and have been roaming around the right bank of Vltava. From the gunpowder tower, which is the place where the old and new towns meet, and the municipality buildings, we went forth to the Republic Square and went along the Celetni street to the central square of the old town, above which you see the gothic steeples of the proud Tinska church. It was built in the 14th century, but the interior is in the baroque style. In the square there’s a monument to Jan Hus, the rector of the Charles University of Prague, who was the religious reformer that was accused of heresy and burned at the steak. We also had a good look at the astronomical clock in the square, which is surrounded by a mass of tourists each full hour, when twelve wooden disciples parade around. It’s considered one of the most complicated clocks ever constructed and to be honest, I didn’t understand at first, how it really works.
Next we went to the Rudolfinum, the musical auditorium with the Dvořáko hall, which is considered to be the oldest concert hall in Europe. The first concert was held by Antonin Dvořák with the Czech philharmonic orchestra on January 4th 1896. On the morning of our visit, there was an exhibition of oldtimer vehicles in front of the building.
As it was time to get the morning coffee, we headed to the café Slavia and enjoyed the goodies and great view of the river and the waking city chaos. Near the café there’s the Prague national theatre, but we went forth to the New Town and the Vaclav’s Square, which is one of the biggest squares of Prague and used to be a horse market. After the renovation in the 19th century, it was dedicated to the national hero, King Vaclav. It’s a 750m long square, surrounded by buildings in secession style, full of stands with food and souvenirs, with a huge crowd of tourists in between. The square ends with the National museum building. Throughout history the square was the place of protests and historical events. It was here that Czechoslovakia declared its independence in 1918. Next to the bronze statue of St. Vaclav, right in front of the museum, is also the monument to the victaims of the Communist regime, as it was here that a student named Jan Palach burned himself in 1969 to protest the soviet occupation.
After walking around shops of the Vaclav’s square we had a late lunch in one of many pizzerias, with a good price and one of famous beers, the Staropramen.
Second day we had a good breakfast and headed to the castle of Prague - Hradčani. We crossed the romantic Charles’s Bridge from the 13th century, which was full of tourists, even though it was still early. There were also street artists, musicians and vendors.
The bridge is surrounded by three towers, two on the right bank and one on the left bank of the river, and there are 30 statues with religious themes watching over the bridge. The statues themselves are replicas, as the originals are kept in the national museum.
We headed for the castle complex, which kept us busy for most of the day, by the old castle stairs, and have thus arrived late for the brass music show of the castle guards at the new castle stairs, which takes place each morning at ten o’clock. I have to say that the Slovenian architect Jože Plečnik had an important influence on the castle, as he was the lead architect during the renovation of the castle in times of the Masaryk’s government.
The main attraction of the complex is the St. Vid’s cathedral, which charms believers and non-believers alike. The cathedral is the home to the tombs of the most important Czech kings. It has been built and added on for six centuries and dedicated to the patron saint of Prague. The complex also holds the basilica of St. George, which is the second oldest church of the city and is part of the St. George monastery, which is the oldest Czech monastery. And most definitely you should walk along the Golden street, full of small little 16th century houses. The legend says the street got its name from the alchemists, who were looking for the elixir of youth here. And in the house at the number 2 lived the famous Czech author Franz Kafka. We also got to see the Daliborka, a tower named by the Czech version of Robin Hood – Dalibor. There’s an exhibition of torture devices inside.
As we visited the castle on Sunday, we got to see the longer variation of the changing of the guard, which otherwise takes place each full hour.
A part of the castle complex is also the old royal palace, with a terrace that has a great view of the Charles’s bridge and the old town. If you’re interested in the history of Prague’s castle you can visit the museum, or you can go and see the treasury of the cathedral and the toy museum.
After a faster walk over the king’s gardens and a quick view of the Loret, we went on to the Mala strana and had a late Sunday lunch in one of the endless restaurants. As the castle took more time than we imagined, we changed our plans and spent the rest of the day walking around Mala strana. We visited the Kamp island, which is separated from the Mala strana by the Devil’s canal, or the Četvorka, and is covered by a park to the south and embassies to the north. At the end we stopped at the John Lennon monument which spontaneously appeared here in memory of the musical legend.
After all was seen and done we joined the general assembly at the old town square in the magical lights of the Tinska church.
On the last day we went to the Josefov’s neighbourhood, the former Jewish ghetto. There are many synagogues here, among them also the oldest kept synagogue in Europe the Staronova synagogue. Next to it is the small Jewish cemetery, said to have held 12.000 graves, which seems a little impossible.
At noon we headed for Wallenstein’s garden, where peacocks walk freely and where the visitors se a strange wall resembling a karst cave.
After sitting in the sun we took the cablecart to the Petrin mountain, where you can take the 291 steps to climb the 64m tall view tower, built as a copy of the Eiffel tower in Paris. The hill also features the wall of hunger, the Strahovski stadium, ad the Strahovski monastery. Coming down from the hill we sat in one of the many gardens and stopped at the wooden church of St. Michael, which was brought to Prague from Ukraine.
We’ve spent the rest of the sunny afternoon at the lazy island of Strelecky and then headed off for the evening at the old town square, to catch some live music, grab a beer and crunch down a trdelnik.
Prague has it all. A rich history, buildings with mysterious stories, nice people and cheap beer. Even if the weather is bad, there is a lot to see, with many museums – from the national one to the torture museum or erotic toy museum.
