Prague monuments
by Prague Central Hostels
PRAGUE CASTLE It is the largest medieval castle in Europe. Constructed in the 9th century by Prince Bořivoj, the castle transformed itself from a wooden fortress surrounded by earthen bulwarks to the imposing form it has today. Rulers made their own additions so there is a mixture of styles. The biggest development came in the 14th century, when the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. made the Prague Castle his residence and had the St. Vitus Cathedral built there. Habsburg emperor Rudolph II. added some buildings in Renaissance style in the 16th century. Then the rulers moved to Vienna. Prague castle has had four major reconstructions, but it keeps its classical facelift it took on in the 18 century during the reign of Maria Theresa. The Prague Castle became a seat of Czechoslovakian (and later Czech) presidents in 1918.
St. Vitus Cathedral St. Vitus Cathedral is the largest and the most important church in Prague. Apart from divine services the coronations of Czech kings and queens also took place in it. The remains of provincial patron saints, sovereigns, noblemen and archbishops are interred here. The first stone was laid in the year 1344 in the reign of Charles IV. The first architect was Matthias of Arras, after his death Petr Parler took over and completed much of the structure in late-Gothic style. Over the following centuries renaissance and baroque details were added and the job was completed in 1929.
The Old Royal Palace Dating from 1135 it is one of the oldest parts of the castle. It was the seat of Bohemian princes but from the 13th to the 16th century it was the king's palace.
St. George Basilica St. George`s Basilica was founded about 920 by Prince Vratislav I.
The present Romanesque apperance is from 1142. It is the best preserved Romanesque church in Prague, the fasade is baroque from the 17th century though. There are tombs of Přemysl royalty. The acoustics make it a good venue for classical concerts.
Golden Lane Golden Lane is a very little street with nice little houses. They were inhabited by the castle servants, perhaps goldsmiths and the castle marksmen. In the 18th and 19th centuries they were occupied by squatters, later it was the home of the writer France Kafka (house 22) and the Nobel-laureate poet Jaroslav Seifert. Most of them are souvenir shops today.
OLD TOWN SQUARE The Old Town Square is the oldest and most important square of the historical Prague. It is surrounded with historical buildings such as the Old Town City Hall with the famous Astornomical Clock, St. Nicolas Church and Church of Lady before Tyn, and many houses and palaces of various architectural styles and colourful history. It has been a centre of Prague Old Town since the middle ages, when it was a market place at the crossing of European merchants´ roads.
The Old Town City Hall It is a complex of buildings from various historical periods and a tower with the famous Astornomical Clock. The city hall was a center of Prague Old Town administration since the 14th century. King John of Luxembourg sanctioned building of the Old Town City Hall in 1338. The Old Town citizens bought a private Gothic house from Wolflin of Kamen for it. The 66 metres high tower was added in 1364.Astronomical Clock The medieval astronomical clock adorns the southern wall of the Old Town City Hall.It announces every hour with 12 apostles passing by the window above the astronomical dial and with symbolic sculptures moving aside. That makes it a popular tourist attraction.
CHARLES BRIDGE It is in Gothic style, 516 m long, 9.5 m wide and supported by 16 massive piers. Both ends are fortified by towers and was the only bridge in Prague up to 19th century. Named after the Emperor Charles IV in 19th century the Charles Bridge is Prague's most familiar monument. Designed by Petr Parler, it was completed in 1400 and it connects the Lesser Town with the Old Town. Although it is now pedestrianised, it withstood wheeled traffic for 600 years. The magnificent Gothic Old Town Bridge Tower was designed by Petr Parler and built at the end of the 14th century. It is considered the finest Gothic tower in central Europe, mainly for its decoration.
Old Town Bridge Tower The entrance gate to the Charles Bridge from the Old Town river bank, the most beautiful gate of the Gothic Europe was a masterpiece of the Court Buildingworks, it was finished before 1380. It is richly adorned with sculptures - coats of arms of the countries belonging to the Czech Crown under the reign of Charles IV, statues of St. Vitus, Charles IV, Wenceslas IV, St. Vojtech (Adalbert) and Sigmund.
Lesser Town Bridge Towers The smaller tower - the romanesque one, a relic of the Judita's Bridge, was constructed in the 12th century. The higher one is 200 years younger (1464) and its late gothis architecture draws upon the Parler's Old Town Bridge Tower.
| JEWISH QUARTER Named after the emperor Josef II, whose reforms helped to ease living conditions for the Jewish, the Jewish Quarter contains the remains of Prague's former Jewish ghetto. There are two figures synonymous with this part of the city, Franz Kafka (1883 – 1924) and the mystical humunculus Golem created by Jehuda ben Bezalel, also known as Rabi Löw. |  |
Old Jewish Cemetery Founded in 1478, it is Europe's oldest surviving Jewish cemetery. People had to be buried on top of each other because of lack of space. There are about 12 layer and over 12,000 gravestones.
Pinkas Synagogue Founded in 1479 by Rabbi Pinkas this synagogue was rebuilt many times over the centuries.
Klausen Synagogue This Baroque synagogue was completed in 1694. There is a good exhibition of Hebrew prints and manuscripts, an exhibition of Jewish traditions and customs and also drawings of children from the Terezín concentration camp.
Old New Synagogue Built around 1270, it is the oldest working synagogue in Europe and one of Prague's earliest Gothic buildings.
Maisel Synagogue Built by Maisel the original Renaissance building was a victim of the fire in 1689. A new neo-Gothic synagogue has been built in its place.
Spanish Synagogue Built in 1868 the Spanish synagogue was named after its striking Moorish interior.
High Synagogue Its prayer hall is on the first floor, this synagogue was built in the 16th century and financed by Mordechai Maisel, mayor of the Jewish Town.
www.jewishmuseum.cz, Prague 1, Josefov
| LESSER TOWN The Lesser Town was founded in 1257 on the slopes bellow the Prague castle and conected with Old Town by Charles Bridge. |
| Church of Our Lady of Victory - the Prague Bambino An early baroque building from the year 1611, 1634 - 1669 rebuilt by the Carmelite Order. The church is world-famous thanks to the Prague Bambino - Infant Jesus wax figure (of the Spanish origin), which was presented to the church by Polyxena of Lobkowicz (1628). www.pragjesu.info, Karmelitska 9, Praha 1 |
|
| Loreta A remarkable place consisting of a cloister, the church of the Lord’s Birth, a Holy Hut and clock tower with a world famous chime that has been situated in Prague Hradčany for more than 300 years. www.loreta.cz, Loretanske nam. 100, Praha 1 |
|
Na prikope, Praha 1
| Vysehrad Ancient legends situate the original seat of the Czech princes - the legendary Princess Libuse and the first Przemyslides - on the hill. In fact, however, this fort had not been founded until the Prague Castle was already in existence, since it dates back to the mid-10th century. In the latter half of the 11th and in the 12th century Vysehrad used to be the Przemyslides princes' main residence which brought about a generous building activity within its walls. Among noteworthy sight there are the precious romanesque rotunda of St. Martin (interior only for groups announced in advance), the gothic church of St. Peter and Paul (in the late 19th century rebuilt in the neogothic style), the Vysehrad cemetery used as a burial site of the Czech outstanding personalilties since 1869 with a collective tomb called Slavin, the underground casemates housing the originals of several baroque statues from the Charles Bridge. The Vysehrad site is open the whole day. www.praha-vysehrad.cz, V pevnosti 159, Praha 5 |  |
Home to Prague hostel