Rainy Day Reads

This so-called “Golden City” surrounds the royal castle of Prague on top of a hill overlooking the Vltava River. The district is situated on the western side of the river and the main sights consist of the castle, the St. Vitus cathedral and the winding streets.   The royal palace is a monumental complex of buildings that range in age from the 10th century to the 20th century. It is said to be the biggest castle in the world with a length of about 570 m and and average of about 130 m width. On the castle grounds lies the residence of the rulers of the country. In 1990 Václav Havel was sworn in as president of the then country of Czechoslovakia. The complex also houses the two main art collections in the city; the St. Georg convent, which houses Czech art of an older date, and the Sternberg mansion which houses 600 years of European art.  Changing of the guard at the castle The St. Vitus Cathedral is located within the castle ground and it is a 99 m h...

On the eastern side of the Vltava River lies the oldest part of the city of Prague right by the Charles Bridge. In the 10th century AD a marketplace was founded her, right by the crossroads of the trading routes of Central Europe. Over 1000 years later the old city square (Staromestske namesti) is still a bustling centre of activity. Only now it is bustling with shops, tourists and cafés instead of medieval traders.   Central to the square is the 600 year old astronomical clock. It is set on the wall of the former city hall, and every hour as it strikes the time, a wealth of apostles and allegorical figures carved in wood move around the clock. It was made in 1410 and is the oldest astronomical clock still in operation. There are two other clocks older than this one, but they do not operate anymore. The top clock face shows the rotations of time, the sun, the moon and the planets, while the bottom face shows the day and the month. You can enter the 60m high tower for a breatht...

This bridge was built in 1357 AD by Charles the 4th. It spans the Vltava River and from the eastern end of the bridge you can see the the royal castle on the opposite bank. Perhaps the most famous feature of this bridge are the many sculptures of saints that line the bridge, 30 in total. Most of these were put in place in the 18th and 19th centuries, but have been replaced by copies by now. The originals are placed in churches or museums.   The bridge was built to replace an older bridge, called the Judith Bridge, built in the 12th century. The Judith bridge was damaged in a flood in 1342 and The Charles Bridge replaced it. Until about 1870 this new bridge was simply known as the “stone bridge” or the “Prague bridge”.  The bridge is 621 m long and almost 10 m wide. The entrances to the bridge are protected by towers, one on the side of the old town and two on the side of the so-called “lesser Quarter”. The one by the old town is considered one of the most ...