A Step Back in Time

After breakfast and with less than an hour remaining on our Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour, we jumped on the next bus, getting off at the stop near the Dancing House. 1st point of interest was the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius where in 1942, during World War II, the cathedral was the scene of a last stand made by SOE-trained Czech and Slovak agents involved in the assassination of SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich. SS-Brigadeführer Karl Fischer von Treuenfeld commanded the Waffen-SS forces that stormed the church on 18 June 1942. After a fierce gun battle, two of the Czechoslovaks were killed, and the rest committed suicide to avoid capture. There is a museum in the church crypt dedicated to them as national heroes.
After a coffee in the Dancing House cafe and a quick saunter in the next street to see the extensive architecture we headed off to Wenceslas Square, one of the main city squares and where many historical events have occurred, a traditional setting for demonstrations, celebrations, and other public gatherings. At the top of the square is the National Museum; a sandstone building pittered with repaired bullet holes in from the 20th August 1968 failed uprising against Soviet led communism that resulted in a brutal invasion by East German, Polish and Bulgarian military that swiftly bringing any chances of reform to an end.Read more