Prague National Museum, Architectural and Cultural Icon I could tell you that it is a neo-Renaissance building that opened in 1891 but as thousands of other sites will tell you the same thing wouldn’t you like to hear something new like how the museum ended up being built here, what it replaced, why in the … Read More
St Nicholas Church Old Town Some buildings in Prague are so old that nobody is really sure exactly how old they are. St Nicholas Church Old Town is one of them. The best we can say is that the original church is “likely” to have been built in the 12th Century but the oldest documented … Read More
St James Basilica If you have come from the Old Town Square and you’ve walked through the Tyn Courtyard then as you emerge onto the street at the far end (Mala Stupartska) you’ll see the church 30 metres to your left. The church, to be accurate it was made a “Basilica Minor” in 1976, has … Read More
Troja Chateau In Czech it has the name “Zámek” which usually means it’s a castle so some people call it Troja Castle. But when you see pictures it looks more like a chateau or a villa so again some people call it Troja Chateau or Troja Villa or Troja Palace. For me it’s Troja Chateau. … Read More
Prague Metronome In 1891 Prague hosted the World’s Fair (what would become called EXPO) in the Prague 7 Exhibition Grounds. One of the structures built for that fair was the Little Eiffel Tower. For the 100th anniversary of that event the Society for the Czechoslovak General Exhibition returned to the same place and commissioned another … Read More
How to Tell the Time on the Astronomical Clock When you look at the Astronomical Clock in Prague it’s like a mass of numbers, lines, colours and moving parts. So to make it less complicated I’m going to explain to you how to read the current time and how to understand Old Czech Time as … Read More
The Old Jewish Ceremonial Hall in Prague, there’s more than one! This building in Josefov is strongly linked to something called Chevra Kadisha and I’ll explain more about them below. Both the Old Ceremonial Hall and the adjacent Klausen Synagogue deal with Jewish customs and traditions. The Old Jewish Ceremonial Hall story is described on … Read More
Prague Calvary The official title is the Statuary of the Holy Crucifix and Calvary. You may think this is just another statue on Charles Bridge. Actually you will find out that it was the original figure on the bridge, the most historic and the most religiously divisive. We’re talking legends and blasphemy. There are two … Read More
Bethlehem Chapel As well as the Bethlehem Chapel there are a few other reasons for visiting this area. You may be interested in Jan Hus hence you want to explore a place where he once preached. You may be looking for a good location for eating outside or you might be looking for a recommended … Read More
Prague Meridian Time has always been important to the residents of Prague and they even have their own “Old Czech Time”. But long before pocket watches became fashionable people knew what time it was or at least they knew when it was noon. The Prague Meridian is an invisible line but it’s also marked in … Read More