Prague, the City of Art
Prague Castle
Anyone visiting Prague will be stunned by its beautiful architecture. The capital city of Czech Republic has numerous antique buildings. Whist the are actually rotten by age, their authentic elegance remains. It is not a hyperbolic expression to say that Prague is the architecture paradise of Eastern Europe.
Those who admire architecture will definitely fall in love with Prague. Various architectural styles including renaissance, baroque, art nouveau, cubism, and deconstructionist harmoniously dissolve together harmoniously. No wonder that Prague is the most visited city, by the tourists, in Eastern Europe.
Just like any other ex-communist countries, the resident of the city with two millions population could not be considered friendly, and English proficiency is rare. But none seems to loose their enthusiasm to scan the city because of those issues.
Charles Bidge
It takes quite a lot of time to thoroughly scan and adequately enjoy every interesting parts of Prague. City center offers buildings with amazing details. There are many alleys and corridors which splash uniquely different surprises, making getting lost an enjoyable experience. Visit to the city landmarks such as Prague Castle, Old Town Square, Charles Bridge, and Petrin Hill will definitely make you forget your watch.
Prague also offers old museums and no less interesting cultural attractions such as theater performances, cultural parades, costume festivals, or street music concert.
The historic Charles Bridge connects the Old Town and Lesser Quarter across River Vltava. Closing to winter Prague has less visitors and makes a visit more enjoyable. On spring the bridge is full of tourists, street painters, street performers, and souvenir sellers.
Main Square
In addition to enchanting architecture, the attraction of this 1357 built bridge is also completed by 30 religious statues along its both sides. Visitors’ favorite is the statue of St. John of Nepomuk. Tale tells that fortune will follow us only by touching it. No wonder that the statue is by far more glossy compared to the others as it has been wiped by millions of visitors coming from every corner of the globe. These baroque statues are replicates. Their originals are stored at various city museums.
The best time to see Charles Bridge is closing to sunset. Golden ray of the setting sun and shadows of antique buildings composes a breath taking scenery, just like masterpiece of painting maestros.
Stairs up from Charles Bridge through Little Quarter leads to the famous Prague Castle where the President of Czech Republic works. The middle age styled castle is located in a hillside area overlooking the cityscape. The building is huge. So huge that it actually looks like a city of itself completed with church, museum, tower, and other historic buildings. Guinness Book of World Records declared it as the largest castle on earth.
Jewish Cemetery
The history of Prague could not be separated from Prague Castle. This elegant palace was built in the 9th century by Bohemian royal family. The most prominent building in this complex is St. Vitus Cathedral along with other ones such as St. Wenceslas Chapel, Golden Portal, and Royal Palace. The world has witnesses soaring modern skyscrapers like Petronas Tower in Kuala Lumpur or The Burj of Dubai. But those modern architectural landmarks are not comparable to Prague. Regardless of its age, these buildings sustains their mind blowing, jaw dropping elegance.
Estates Theater, built in 1783, is considered the most beautiful theater in Europe. From the outside, the building looks like residence of Western Governor General in colonialism era whilst the interior looks like in indoor colosseum with layers of seats and giant crystal lamp. History notes that Mozart has once conducted the first performance of Don Giovanni at Estates Theater in 1787. Entrance fee is rather expensive, 50 Euros.
In Prague you will feel like being in a different dimension of time, and it will feel even stronger when visiting Jewish Corner in the Old Town area. Jewish Corner has the Old-New Synagogue built in 1270, and Old Jewish Cemetery which will remind you to scenes of horror movies. The cemetery has 12,000 thumbs with marking year between 1439 and 1787. Some say this is one of the most interesting places to visit on earth.
Astronomical Clock
Astronomical Clock at the Old Town Square is the favorite to many visitors. Serving as the landmark of the city, it comes at almost the same size as the Big Ben of London, but this one is more unique. The topmost part of the clock is known as The Walk of Apostles. Every hour, death, represented by a skull, hits the bell. A window opens and 12 apostles come out. Then a golden cock comes out singing accompanied by the Turk playing flute. The 600 years old clock was crafted by a math and astronomical professor from Prague Charles University.
The actual clock itself is located in the middle. The clock shows time in astronomical symbols such as planet, moon, and stars surrounding the sun. The larger outer circle represents a calendar whilst the smaller circle in the middle shows zodiac marks representing the months. The Astronomical Clock combines astronomy, astrology, and wall clock.
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