Prague Castle

Our exploration of Prague fittingly ends here in the Prague Castle. While we did not make an extensive exploration of the place, what we did see was worth a visit. We were discouraged by the crowd from entering St. George's Basilica and the state of our feet from walking through the armour displays in the Maria Theresa Hall. Clearly we need to make another visit.

On the other hand we (partially) saw the changing of the guards complete with the military band playing.

St. Vitus Cathedral

This is an impressive gothic cathedral. I quote from Wikipedia since retyping all the Czech is beyond me at the moment:

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saints Vitus, Wenceslaus and Adalbert (Czech: metropolitní katedrála svatého Víta, Václava a Vojtěcha) is a Roman Catholic metropolitan cathedral in Prague, the seat of the Archbishop of Prague. Until 1997, the cathedral was dedicated only to Saint Vitus, and is still commonly named only as St. Vitus Cathedral.

It is located on the grounds of the Prague castle and is largely surrounded by the castles and its associated buildings. Thus, my photos from the outside are taken from fairly close and don't give a full reflection of the size. This is the third church on this site. Construction began on 21 November 1344 when Prague was elevated to the seat of an archbishopric.

Church of the Infant Jesus of Prague

A more modestly appointed church is the Infant of Jesus church. The decorations are pretty much all about Jesus and Mary.

The (Other) St. Nicholas Church

It turns out that Prague has two churches dedicated to St. Nicholas. This the largest (as you can see) and the most significant historically. This church is at the foot of the hill where the Castle sits. It was built between 1704 and 1755 and is hailed as the greatest example of Prague Baroque.

Klementinum

In the 11th century a chapel dedicated to St. Clement was built here. In the medieval period, the Dominicans too over and in 1556 the Jesuits transformed it into a college. As Wikipedian says:

In 1622 the Jesuits transferred the library of Charles University to the Klementinum, and the college was merged with the University in 1654. The Jesuits remained until 1773, when the Klementinum was established as an observatory, library, and university by the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria.

What I toured was the library and astronomical observatory section. In the photo above you see the library which is now essentially a rare book collection for the National Library.

Jewish Museum - Pinkas Synagogue and Cemetery

What started with the intention to visit the medieval Jewish cemetery and a synagogue, once we arrived, turned out to include a visit to three synagogues and the cemetery. The first of these synagogues is, in fact, a memorial to all the czech jews killed during WWII.

This place is rooms filled with walls covered, as you see above, with names of those killed. To fit the wall in, the print is so small as to be illegibly small.

Old Town in the Evening

By the evening of the first day, the gray skies had lifted and pink clouds helped frame patches of the late-day blue sky.

Church of St. Nicholas

On the edge of the Old Town square sits the Church of St. Nicholas. Unlike the catholic church dedicate to the same saint in Valencia, Spain, this is a Hussite church. On the information board in the church is says that they are basically Presbyterians "with Episcopal elements."

The Top of Old Town Hall

Going inside the town hall and paying the entry fee gets you to the bottom of the elevator shaft that sits in the open center of the tower. The design of the railings and the sides of the round elevator in the multi-storied structure make an interesting pattern.

A First Visit to Old Town Prague

One our first day in Prague, we headed out early, at least by Prague standards. We spent what seemed like all morning walking fairly empty streets. Until they weren't. Next thing you know, there are swarms of tourists everywhere.

But before that, we saw some interesting things. For example, the art work suspended above the street in the photo above, is a man hanging by one hand. From the Atlas Obscura:

First created in 1996, the work known as “Zavěšený muž” (“Man Hanging Out”) is the vision of Czech sculptor David Černý, whose work can actually be found all across Prague. Many of Cerny’s works are seen as somewhat deliberately provocative, and this one is no different. The dangling Freud is surprisingly lifelike at a distance, and a number of people have sincerely taken it for a person in danger. However, it is simply a sculptural statement about intellectualism in the 20th century and Černý’s uncertainty about it.