Prague Castle

We slept as late as we needed to on Sunday. We all felt great after a good night's sleep! We had breakfast at the hotel and decided to take the tram from the hotel to the city, leaving our car in the hotel underground lot.

The tram system was very easy to figure out, confirming Joseph's notion that "he could get pretty much anywhere in Europe - he knows how the train systems work now."

We got off the tram in the Little Quarter and saw a bit of that on our way up the hill to the Prague Castle and Hradcany. (I will post the photos from the Little Quarter separately.)

The streets were very steep and we got quite a workout but it was worth it! The views of Prague from the top were amazing!

We entered the grounds of the Prague Castle through beautiful gates with huge statues of fighting giants.

The castle guards were very cool! (Ok - they actually looked really hot - the sun was shining and it was already really warm by 10 AM. None of us were envious of their uniforms!)

This fountain is in the second courtyard as you enter the castle grounds.

This is the church of the Holy Rood, also in the second courtyard.

The crown of the castle and grounds is St. Vitus's Cathedral. It is massive and beautiful!

In these pictures you can see St. George's Basilica and St. George's Convent.

St. Vitus's Cathedral from the backside.

The changing of the guard - here they are headed to the front gate. We kept ahead of them to see the actual changing ceremony at the gate. It was really amazing!

This is King Wenceslas' crown. It is made of 21-22 carat gold inlaid with pearls, emeralds, sapphires, rubies and other gems. It is the oldest of the crown jewels and weighs 2.5 kilos (more than 5 lbs!).

Here we are walking along Golden Lane. It was named after the goldsmiths who lived here in the 17th century. The bright houses to the left are built right into the arches of the castle walls in the late 1500's (originally for the castle guards). Goldsmiths moved in about a century later and by the 19th century the area had become a slum. In the 1950's all the tenants were moved and the area was restored. Now the houses are bookstores, souvenir shops, etc.

Franz Kafka stayed in this one (number 22) with his sister for a few months in 1916-17. Jaroslav Seifert, Nobel-prize winning poet also lived on Golden Lane at one time.

Here we are descending into the dungeons of Dalibor Tower. This old prison is filled with old instruments of torture - this fascinated the kids whose imaginations were going wild!

Jeff and the kids are entering the Powder Tower in this picture. This tower was built in 1496 as a cannon bastion overlooking the moat. This is not the original (that one was destroyed by fire) - this one was built in the mid-1500's. in the late 1500's and early 1600's the tower became a laboratory for alchemists - attempting to turn lead into gold. It is now a museum with information on its sorted history.

Snack time!

Our next stop was the Royal Palace. This huge room is Vladislav Hall.

This is the All Saints' Chapel built for Charles IV.

This is the Diet, the medieval parliament, which was also the throne room.

These rooms are the New Land Rolls, decorated with the crests of clerks who worked here from the mid-1500's to around 1774.

On May 23rd, 1618 more than 100 Protestant nobles led by Count Thurn marched into the Prague Castle's Royal Palace to protest the succession to the throne of Habsburg Archduke Ferdinand. He was quite intolerant of Protestants. Two Catholic governors appointed by Ferdinand were confronted and after some fighting the Protestants threw them both, along with their secretary out the window - the Defenestration of 1618. This signaled the beginning of the Thirty Years War (which ended on the Charles Bridge, also in Prague). The three men survived the fall because they landed in a dung heap but the Catholics attributed their survival to the intervention of angels - God works in mysterious ways! We think these are the windows through which the men were thrown.

This is the Rider's Staircase. The passageway is wide and the steps are gentle to accommodate knights on their horses who took these stairs to get to Vladislav Hall for indoor jousting competitions.

St. George's Convent is now an art museum. It contains many wonderful, famous works. Pictures were not allowed and this one, taken quickly without a flash quickly brought a guard from around the corner who then followed us throughout the rest of our visit.

We saved St. Vitus's Cathedral for last - partly because of the long line to enter and partly because it is the "crown jewel" of the Prague Castle and it lived up to our expectations!

This is the Royal Mausoleum where Ferdinand I and his wife and son, Maximilian II are buried.

Ths stained glass was beautiful!

This is the Tomb of St. John Nepomuk. His relief on Charles Bridge is the one that is rubbed for luck. He became the focus of a Counter-Reformation Cult. He died under torture. His body was bound and thrown off Charles Bridge.

This is St. Wenceslas Chapel. There are frescos covering every inch of the walls, along with gems and gilding. Everything in the chapel is an amazing piece of art - from the golden steepel that held the communion elements to the statues, carvings, candlesticks, etc.

This bronze ring on the door to the St. Wenceslas Chapel is supposed to be the one to which Wenceslas clung when he was murdered by his brother Boleslav.

The last thing we did at the castle was to climb the Great South Tower (a mere 287 steps) for a beautiful view of Prague.

Jeff says I look sufficiently puckered here. Those of you who know me well know how much I love heights. To be honest I've climbed more towers in the last 11 months than I need to in a lifetime - certainly more than I ever thought I would climb - higher and more open too - ugh!

We loved the Prague Castle. It was the highlight for most of us. We walked back through the narrow, steep streets to tour the Little Quarter - our day wasn't nearly over!!!