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Two of Prague's major landmarks. In the background,
towering over the Old Town Square (Staromĕstské
námĕsti), is the 14th century Church of Our Lady Before
Týn or,
simply Týn
(town) Church. The Jan Hus Memorial is in the foreground.
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Another view of the
Týn
Church. |
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The
Jan Hus Memorial with some of the colorful buildings that line the Old
Town Square in the background.
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A
closeup of the The Jan Hus
Memorial with a background that really illustrates the incredible color
and architectural detail of Old Town. |
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A
view into Old Town from the Charles Bridge (Karlův
most). The bridge was built during the 14th century reign of
Charles IV. It is lined by statues, two of which you see silhouetted on
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Staromĕstské
námĕsti.
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A
building in Old Town with the distinctive towers of the
Týn
Church in the background.
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Another
view of Staromĕstské
námĕsti. |
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Colorful building along
Staromĕstské
námĕsti. |
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The Baroque Church of Saint
Nicholas in Staré
Město. |
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Yet
another view of Staromĕstské
námĕsti.
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A
detail of the buildings at left. |
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Yes,
those are cows you see there. They are all over the city.
They were contributed by various artists and will eventually be
auctioned off for charity.
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Old
Town Square.
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This
astronomical clock is a major attraction. Each hour, right before
the hour stikes, the little figures start moving. The skeleton at
the upper right yanks on a line. The other characters start
moving back and forth. Those two blue doors with stars open and
various characters appear in the doors. At the end, a bird at the
top squawks, the doors close, and the bells start to chime. This
has got to be seen to be believed. And this has been going on
hundreds of years! It was built in the 15th century.
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The
clock shows not just the time but also the movement of the planets
relative to the Earth.
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See
the line that the skeleton holds? |
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Another
pair of characters on the astronomical clock.
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And
still another.
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Prague
is famous for its ancient Jewish Quarter, Josefov, named after the 18th
century Emperor Joseph II under whose reign the Jews enjoyed a
relatively high status and prosperity. Jews started settling in
the 10th century. Until the German occupation of World War II, there
was a large Jewish population, but over 80,000 Bohemian and Moravian
Jews were killed in the Holocost. Today, only a few thousand
remain in Prague and most of the synagogues are now museums.
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By
the Old Jewish Cemetery.
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The
Old-New Synagogue, which dates back to 1275. It is the oldest
synagogue in regular use in Europe today.
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An
artist's representation of the mythical Golem, a Frankenstein-like
being supposedly created by Rabbi Loew (1520-1609) from the mud of the
Vlatava.
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The
Jewish Town Hall. The clocks have Hebrew characters and the hands
move in a counter-clockwise direction.
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A building in the Jewish Quarter.
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Cafe Pravda in
the Jewish Quarter, perhaps Prague''s best, and most expensive,
restaurant. |
