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Prague

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    September 11, 2021
    skip's retirement travelPragueskip's retirement travel

    Prague Old Town

    September 12, 2021 in Czech Republic ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    The Old Town of Prague is across the river from the castle and dates to at least the 9th century. By the 11th century, it was surrounded by a moat and defensive walls from the riverbank, around the town, and back to the riverbank. In the 14th century, Charles IV became the Holy Roman Emperor, and Prague became the most important city in central Europe.
    The 1st picture looks across the old market square to the large Hussite church. If you blow up this picture, you will see a golden plaque. This is the seal of the Hussites. The Hussites were followers of Jan Huss, a proto-protestant in the early 15th century, about 100 years before Martin Luther. The 2nd picture is a memorial to the burning at the stake of Jan Huss for heresy.
    The 3rd picture is the famous astronomical clock built on the tower at the side of the old town hall. The clock dates to 1410 and is considered the oldest working clock in the world. This mechanism is surprisingly complex: 3 clocks, zodiac, sunrise and sunset, phases of the moon and more are all here. Too much to try to describe in this post.
    The 4th picture is of the large X marking the spot and 27 smaller Xs remembering the 27 leaders of the Bohemian revolt of the 17th century who were executed right here.
    The 5th picture is another portion of the old town square with the old town hall to the right.
    The last picture is of the statue of Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler, 2 famous astronomers of Prague around the turn of the 17th century when Prague was arguably the most important scientific site in Europe.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPragueskip's retirement travel

    Wencelas Square

    September 12, 2021 in Czech Republic ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    This is the new town square, but remember this is Europe. It was started in the 14th century when Charles IV wanted to enlarge the city. So he moved the city walls to a point behind what is now the national museum (with the dome). The statue in the picture gives the square it's name. That is good King Wenceslaus, the one who looked out on the feast of Stephen.
    The 2nd picture is of a bakery window. On the left is covid cake, and on the right is vaccine cake. Yes, these are real and quite good they tell me.
    The 3rd picture is the Mozart theater where Mozart performed and premiered a couple operas. This is one of several opera houses that still present opera in Prague and this is said to be the only remaining place where Mozart performed. I'm told Amadeus was filmed here.
    Continuing with the theme of Charles IV, the 4th picture is the central building of Charles University founded by that same Holy Roman Emperor from Bohemia in his push to make Prague an intellectual and cultural center.
    The last 2 pictures are of street scenes in this part of town.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPragueskip's retirement travel

    Jewish quarter

    September 12, 2021 in Czech Republic ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    It is believed that Jewish people have been in Prague since the 11th century. Over the centuries, they suffered pogroms and were required to live in a walled ghetto. Yet the quarter survived reaching it's most prosperous in the late 16th century. The area was renamed Joseph's City after the emperor who emancipated the Jewish population with the Edict of Toleration.
    In the 1st picture is a statue at one of the entrances to the quarter based on the work of Franz Kafka who lived here. The 2nd picture is the old town hall of the Jewish quarter. Note the clock with the Hebrew letters. Because Hebrew reads right to left, this clock works backwards.
    The 3rd picture is of the High Synagogue, now a museum. The 4th picture gives an idea of what the area looks like now after numerous renewal efforts, not least attempts to remake Prague in the image of Paris.
    The 5th picture is of the Old New synagogue (that's really the name), dating to the 13th century. This is the oldest operating synagogue in Europe.
    The 6th picture is of the Jewish cemetery. Because they weren't allowed to leave the quarter, they quickly ran out of room for burials. Their solution was to build a vertical cemetery. Currently there are said to be 12 layers of burials built up over the centuries.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPragueskip's retirement travel

    Prague Castle

    September 12, 2021 in Czech Republic ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    This was the home of Czech (Bohemian) royalty, some of the Holy Roman Emperors, and now hosts the office of the President of the Czech Republic. It is generally thought that the origins of the castle date to the 9th century. It is considered to be the largest ancient castle in the world.
    The 1st picture looks up to the castle from the approach. The 2nd is in the main courtyard and looks at some of the remodeling commissioned by Maria Teresa (mother of Marie Antoinette) in the 18th century. There is a plaque at the end of the building. The 3rd picture is of another palace entrance.
    The 4th picture is of St George's Basilica, the old church within the castle. Portions of the building date to the 10th century.
    The 5th picture is also outside the castle proper and is the residence of the Steinhausers who the Hapsburgs put in charge of Prague when they were not in residence (which was most of the time).
    The last picture looks along the Vladislav Hall which is large enough to host jousting tournaments. Stables were built below, and the "Knight's Stairway" was built to accommodate bringing horses from the stable up to the hall for tournaments.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPragueskip's retirement travel

    Prague

    September 12, 2021 in Czech Republic ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    This is an initial post about an extraordinary city that people fall in love with, and I can say rightfully so. This is the 1st post of what will be many and will serve as an introduction and a place to capture a few points that don't fit in categories.
    The 1st picture looks over the city from the castle grounds. The 2nd picture looks across the Vlatava River that runs through Prague. The building is an aristocratic palace with the castle above and behind. The castle and all surrounding buildings are government offices now.
    Vlatava means "wild river "in Czech and the 3rd shows part of the reason. The wall markings are flood levels reached by the river. The most recent is 2002, and that is waaay over my head. The 4th picture is of a canal and waterwheel adjacent to the river that powered an old mill.
    The 5th picture is of the John Lennon wall. This is a wall of the embassy of Malta. So the communist secret police couldn't take permanent action. So every time they whitewashed it, someone would replace the picture overnight.
    The last picture is of what is said to be the 1st building built (1912) using cubist architecture. It is called the Black Madonna" building due to the stature found on site and preserved in the protective structure on the right front corner on the 1st floor. Remember that in most of the world, the 1st floor is the 1st above the ground floor.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPragueskip's retirement travel

    Charles Bridge

    September 12, 2021 in Czech Republic ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    In case you haven't guessed, this is Charles IV again. Charles Bridge is a medieval stone arch bridge begun in 1357 with work continuing for about 50 years. The bridge is now on the UNESCO list.
    The 1st picture looks at the bridge from another of the many bridges that exist now. However, up until about 1840, this bridge was the only crossing of the Vlatava, make Prague an even more important trade town.
    The 2nd picture is of the gate tower at the old town end of the bridge. This is said to be original from the 14th century.
    The 3rd picture looks across the bridge from the tower in the 2nd picture. You can see in silhouette some of the baroque statues that the bridge is famous for. The original bridge had no statues. They were added in the 17th century. None of the statues today are original save one. That is the statue in the 4th picture of St John of Nepomuck. The legend says he was tossed off the bridge because he wouldn't break the seal of the confessional and divulge the queen's confession to the king who suspected her of infidelity. It is said stars appeared around his head as he hit the water.
    The last picture is another one of the bridge statues. To my knowledge, this is the only crucifix anywhere that includes Hebrew writing. I leave it to you Hebrew scholars to translate. I suspect our Jewish friends are not pleased by this.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPragueskip's retirement travel

    St Vitus Cathedral

    September 13, 2021 in Czech Republic ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    This is the cathedral inside the Prague Castle that gives it the distinctive skyline. Here coronations took place and numerous rulers, saints and other important people are entombed. The 1st church on this site was in the 10th century, built by Wenceslas. The current gothic cathedral city was begin by Charles IV in the 14th century. Construction continued off and on for 600 years.
    Unfortunately, interior photos weren't permitted, but I can tell you it is a beautiful gothic cathedral.
    The 1st picture is taken from across the river with the familiar skyline at sunset. The 2nd picture is of the front of the building from the narrow courtyard entered from the main part of the castle.
    The 3rd picture is of the rose window, lighting the nave, especially in the afternoon as this is the west end. The 4th picture is of the so called golden entrance, the most important part of which is the mosaic of the Last Judgment. This is a mosaic done with semiprecious stones that was commissioned by Charles IV in the 14th century.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPragueskip's retirement travel

    Prague Miscellany

    September 15, 2021 in Czech Republic ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Here are a few miscellaneous pictures of Prague to add to the sense of this extraordinary city.
    The 1st picture looks like a graffiti or street art wall. I put it in the latter category as this is not paint. It is a mosaic, using ceramic tile and glass pieces. I've not seen anything like this anywhere.
    The 2nd picture is the Jan Hus community building, consisting on a bell tower, community room/ceremonial space and apartments. For you engineering geeks, this is any early use of prestressed concrete in building construction.
    The 3rd picture is part of a hillside park.
    The 4th picture is of Krymska Street which is the center of the creative, arts and alternative culture part of Prague. Some consider it to be the "hippest" address in Prague.
    The 5th picture is of the National Memorial on Vitkov Hill. The statue is of the Hussite leader, Jan Zizka, who never lost a battle. This statue, said to be one of the largest equestrian statues in the world is on the site of one of his victories.
    The last picture, of the Eiffel Tower look alike, was built shortly after the one in Paris. This tower is said to be slightly taller than Eiffel's (if you include the height of the hill it's built on). I'm told that that is the way the Czechs look at it, anyway.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPragueskip's retirement travel

    Vysehrad Castle, Prague

    September 15, 2021 in Czech Republic ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Vysehrad, which is Czech for "Upper Castle, " was probably built in the 10th century. It is only about 3 km from Prague Castle and across the river. It is likely that this is the 1st structure that eventually became Prague. Charles IV (yeah, him again) moved the royal seat across the river when he built Prague Castle (see another post).
    The 1st picture looks over the ramparts of the castle. This gives you a good sense of the defensibility of the place. The 2nd picture is a main gate, called the Brick Gate, on the slope above the river.
    The 3rd and 4th pictures are on the lawn within the castle grounds. The 4 statues are mostly of legendary Czech rulers, singers and women. The exception is of the leaders of the rebellion against Charlemagne's troops in 805 who, it is said, were victorious.
    The 5th picture looks along the cloister in the cemetery in the cemetery where many Czech notables are interred, including Smetana, Dvorák and more.
    The last picture is of the rotunda of St. Martin, dating to the 11th century. It is the oldest rotunda in Prague.    Read more

    Trip end
    September 17, 2021
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