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pragues stolpersteine glossy a4 book with stumble stones embedded on the ground

Book Review – Pragues Stolpersteine

Book Review – Prague’s Stolpersteine Stumbling Stones Defiant in Their Memory 2008-2021 On March 24th 2019 an email arrived into my inbox with a single word in the title – Stolpersteine. The purpose of that email was to engage with people who had written about Stolpersteine (I’d called them Prague Stumble Stones) and suggest linking … Read More

a large rusty cast iron fan called sophies fan in prague

Sophies Fan

Sophies Fan On the Sand Gate post I described where one of the original fortified city gates can be found and in the same area 50 metres in front of the gate is a little piece of art called Sophies Fan so I’m going to use it to tell the story of a woman. Anybody … Read More

black and white photo showing the final construction of the prague stalin statue with nine characters made from granite stone

Prague Stalin Statue

Prague Stalin Statue If you had been in Prague on the evening on November 6th 1962 you would have heard a terrific explosion. It was the end of the road for the Prague Stalin Statue. This post is about why it was built, things to look out for, why it had to be destroyed and … Read More

the courtyard of zbiroh castle and entry to the castle pub.

Zbiroh Castle

Trips from Prague, Zbiroh Castle There are several reasons for visiting Zbiroh not least for the surrounding countryside hiking experiences but the Castle/Chateau is fairly unknown to tourists. It has an interesting history so if you are driving between Prague and Plzen it might be worth a stop especially if you are a Slav Epic … Read More

The Plaque to Thomas Vokes and William Greig on the Na Smetance School in the Prague vinohrady district

Thomas Vokes and William Greig

Thomas Vokes and William Greig, Scottish Heroes of the Prague Uprising On May 5th 2021 a memorial plaque was unveiled at the Na Smetance primary school in the Prague 2nd District of Vinohrady. Strangely it commemorated two British soldiers called Thomas Vokes and William Greig who fought with the Czechs during the Prague Uprising exactly … Read More

the prague castle fortified sand gate as seen from outside the old city wall in 1750

The Sand Gate

The Sand Gate Prague was a fortified city up until the 1880s. On my Walking Tours I can point out where the various city wall gates used to be, what they were called and who might have used them. I can even show you what they looked like, describe the dimensions and generally paint a … Read More

bronze detail on a st vitus cathedral door showing the relics of st vitus being carried to the new rotunda

ST Vitus

St Vitus – The Boy Saint Before you read about ST Vitus Cathedral it’s worth telling you something about the legend of ST Vitus himself because although he is patron saint of Prague, he was not Czech. So let’s just agree on who he was and how a piece of him ended up here in … Read More

alfons mucha slav epic

Slav Epic Part One

Slav Epic Part One – Introduction and Location The Slav Epic is a huge piece of work whether you look at it from a perspective of the number of paintings i.e. twenty, the size of the paintings (6 of the paintings would cover the front of a terraced house in England, including the roof), the … Read More

Slav epic, celebration of Svantovit, when gods are at war

Slav Epic Part Two

Slav Epic Part Two – Paintings 1 to 5 This post explores the detail on paintings numbered 1 to 5 in the Slav Epic series with interpretation, what to look for and historic context etc. If you want first to learn what leads up to the creation of the Slav Epic, who painted it, when … Read More

slav epic, the coronation of serbian tsar stepan dusan, slavic legislation

Slav Epic Part Three

Slav Epic Part Three – Paintings 6 to 10 This post explores the detail on the paintings numbered 6 to 10 in the Slav Epic series with interpretation, what to look for and historic context etc. If you want first to learn what leads up to the creation of the Slav Epic, who painted it, … Read More