Jan Hus Monument The period from 1850 to 1918 is known as the Czech National Revival. All aspects of “what it was to be Czech” from an ethnic, cultural, political and religious point of view were being investigated and highlighted. Famous Czechs of the past were being honoured and by the early 20th Century it … 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
Jewish Ceremonial Hall This building in Josefov is strongly linked to something called Chevra Kadisha and I’ll explain more about them below. Both the Ceremonial Hall and the adjacent Klausen Synagogue deal with Jewish customs and traditions. The Jewish Ceremonial Hall story is described on my Old Town and Jewish Quarter Walking Tour. It’s important … 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
Pinkas Synagogue, a National Memorial Sometimes you can look at a building and have an idea of what came before a certain time and what came after. This post about the Pinkas Synagogue can also be broken into two parts. Before and after World War Two. The Pinkas Synagogue is on the route of the … Read More
Church of Our Lady Before Tyn If you read about the Tyn Courtyard then it won’t surprise you too much to learn that the original church was built in front of that place, hence the name “Before Tyn”. As with many historic places it’s undergone many changes over the last 900 years. Yes that’s right … Read More
Platyz Palace One of the joys of exploring Prague are the hundreds of accessible courtyards especially in the Old Town. The Platyz Courtyard is just one of them but of course, a courtyard just means it has a large building surrounding it which in this case is the Platyz Palace. On this post I’ll tell … Read More