Little Square in Prague As the Old Town developed there was a conscious decision to maintain a large square that acted as a meeting place, a place of safety from fire and as a market square. On German language maps it’s called the “Grosse Markt” or the Big Market. Today we call this place the … Read More
House at the Stone Bell – A Hidden Secret You’ll read about the House at the Stone Bell in many guides and blogs. The same old bland rewriting of history will tell you it dates to the 13th Century and because of it’s location and decoration, was home to various noblemen. It’s not known exactly … Read More
Jubilee Synagogue in Prague So you’re coming to Prague and intend spending a day in the Jewish Quarter. You’ll buy the Jewish Museum ticket and visit all the accessible synagogues right? Wrong! If you do that you’ll miss one because it’s not officially part of the Jewish Museum in Prague. It’s the newest, largest, cheapest … Read More
Prague Kinsky Palace, National Gallery Location The Kinsky Palace is the largest single building on the Old Town Square. Before you say “that’s not true, what about the churches and the Old Town Hall?”. Well the Old Town Hall is 4 buildings joined together, the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn is set back from … Read More
Prague Cafes – Grand Cafe Orient There are not many “original” things left in the world, but some places are rebuilt with such care and attention to detail that you can’t tell the difference. Grand Cafe Orient in Prague is one of those places. The building where the cafe is located is on the route … Read More
Charles Bridge Portrait Artists There are some seriously talented artists in Prague and several of them can be found on Charles Bridge during the year. The signage on their easels should make it clear what the pricing will be and material options etc. It also makes it easy to point at what you want. But … Read More
Jan Nepomuk You’ll see his statue in every published guide but there are other things to look for and understand. This post will give a brief timeline and background of Jan Nepomuk so you know how he came to die but mostly it’s about the icons on the Charles Bridge and how to recognise a … Read More
Prague Defenestrations Defenestration comes from the German word for window i.e. Fenster. the act of throwing someone or something out of a window. expulsion, riddance, ejection, exclusion – the act of forcing out someone or something; Oxford English Dictionary The First and Second Prague Defenestrations As far as throwing people out of windows goes then … Read More
Shooters Island in Prague – Strelecky Ostrov I’m going to split this post into two parts. Obviously you’ll want to know why it’s called Shooters Island but you’ll also want to understand why you might like to come here. Where Does the Name Come From? The Island is mentioned as far back as the 12th … Read More
Prague Lucerna Passage – Cultural Gem The first time I came through the covered Lucerna Passage (it sounds like “lootserna”) was the summer of 1996 about a week after arriving in the country. I think we were trying to find an American pub but we had no map, no smartphones, we didn’t speak Czech and … Read More