Strahovske Monastery and the Loreto

After lunch, I walked back towards Charles Bridge and caught the tram back up the hill to visit Strahovske Monastery. I went inside the Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary . It was impressive, but visitors are kept behind large wrought iron gates, so you can't walk around. I had wanted to see the library inside the monastery. It holds 130,000 volumes. However, it cost around £17, and I read that, again, you couldn't walk around - you could only observe from the doorway in order to protect the precious manuscripts from any humidity in the air. It seemed like a lot to pay for not very much!

Most visitors appeared to only be there for the beer! The monastery has been brewing constantly for the past 600 years 😀.

From the monastery, I walked to Loreto, a former church which now houses a collection of treasures. The Baroque-style facade is impressive, but again, I was unwilling to pay the exorbitant entrance fee to see inside. 

There are 360 churches in Prague. In the Czech Republic's secular society, very few of them still function as such. The vast majority now operate as museums, exhibition venues, concert halls, hotels, restaurants, and even nightclubs. It's good to see that the buildings are being preserved.

Opposite Loreto stands Cernin Palace. It was built for the Cernins, an influential democratic family in the 17th century. The palace is huge - over 150 metres long. Its size issaid to gave displeased Leopold I, who felt it rivalled the Royal Palace in terms of its splendour. Today, it houses the Czech foreign ministry. 

As I walked back to the tram, I photographed some of the different designs on the pavements. Micha, my guide on my first day in Prague, told us that there are over 200 different patterns used in the city!Read more