Prague Old Town

After seeing many things in the Jewish quarter from the outside we stopped at a bakery to get a little snack. We ate our snacks on the steps of a wonderful theater/museum near where we parked.

We had a wonderful view of the Prague Castle across the river.

After our break we walked along the river, heading to Old Town.

The views of Prague from the river are breathtaking!

Here you can see the Charles Bridge (we'll see that in more detail later).

This is the Church of the Holy Savior, part of the Clementinum. It was the first Jesuit church in Prague. It was built in 1601. It later became the Prague University library and now is the National Library.

This is the Old Town Bridge Tower. It dates from 1380.

This is the Statue of Charles IV in Knights of the Cross Square.

Here is a view from the Old Town side of the Charles Bridge, looking toward the Prague Castle, up on top of the hill.

This is the Church of St. Francis.

The Charles Bridge connects Old Town with the Little Quarter, crossing the Vltava River. It was built in the mid-1300's. It is, perhaps, Prague's most familiar piece of architecture. It is a pedestrian bridge only today and is lined with wonderful statues. Most of them are copies because of time, weather, wear and tear. This statue has a relief depicting the martyrdom of St John Nepomuk. Touching it is supposed to bring good luck and you can see by how polished it is that many many people have touched it!

The Charles Bridge is the site of the end of the Thirty Years' War. Prague's Old Town was saved from the Swedish army during the last hours of the war and the truce was signed in the middle of this bridge in 1648.

This is the Little Quarter Bridge Tower at the other end of the bridge. The arch leads into the Little Quarter which we visited later.

This is a small church - St. Aegidii.

This is the Old Town Square. We spent quite a bit of time here. There was so much to see! Every building has a story and every building is beautiful! Franz Kafka spent most of his life here in Old Town Prague.
On Sunday we ate in the restaurant on the first floor of this building.

The church with the two tall spires is Church of Our Lady before Tyn. The effigy up on top in the middle is solid gold! The church was started in 1365 and was the main Hussite church in Prague from the early 15th century until 1620.
We had coffee and something to eat at a cafe just before noon so we could sit to watch the astronomical clock in the Old Town Hall. Interestingly we not only saw the astronomical clock chime and the figures move at noon but we saw it malfunction! The doors did not shut when it was finished. It seemed to be fixed later when we walked by. Every hour the figure of Death pulls a rope, inverts an hour glass and the clock doors open and the 12 apostles (11 apostles plus Paul) walk out and around, led by St. Peter. At the end the cock crows, the clock chimes the hour and the doors (are supposed to) close. It was very cool!

Ellen really needed the caffeine in her iced coffee at this point! Does she look like she hasn't been to bed yet?

This is the Old Town Hall Tower added to what was a private house in 1364.

And here is the magnificent church of St. Nicholas. This site has held a church since the 12th century. This one was completed in 1735. Concerts are held here in the summer.

The frescoes on the dome of this church are amazing!

We stopped outside this church to have lunch in the shade. It was a sunny, hot day!

This is the church of St. James.

This is the Powder Gate. Here has been a gate at this site since the 11th century. This one was begun in 1475. Its name comes from its use as a storage site for gun powder in the 17th century.

A statue to commemorate Mozart's performance of Don Giovanni at this site on the 29th of October 1787.

There were dancers in costume performing traditional dances on the square.

A cold Pilzen - the original, brewed in neighboring Pilzen was just what Jeff needed after a long day with lots of sun and miles of walking.

It took us a while to get used to the Czech crown - no Joseph, Dad is not rich - it just looks that way!

We all went to bed early - before 8 PM! and slept really sound! We woke up ready to go on Sunday! Ellen was amazingly pleasant with the little sleep she got - thanks Ellen!