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It is of course completely beyond the remit of a small and, frankly, crappy site such as this to provide a complete guide to all of the tourist attractions of Prague. Entire books have been written on the subject and have only just scratched the surface. So what I'll try to do is summarise a few of the more popular places in Prague, as well as one or two that are off the usual tourist trails and where you may be able to find a little peace and quiet.
Starting in Hradcany, without any doubt Prague's most prominent attractions are the Castle and Cathedral; they can be seen from nearly everywhere in the city and they are particularly spectacular at night when the exteriors are illuminated. There has been a castle on this site for over 1000 years, although its current appearance owes much to alterations made in the 18th century. Getting to the castle can be a little tricky; it's easy to get lost in the narrow streets of the Mala Strana and although you can always see your target it can be a little disheartening to find yourself walking for hours only to find that you're getting no nearer, so disheartening in fact that if you have companions they may threaten you with physical violence. Ungrateful bastards. Anyway, from the Mala Strana take the steep, shop-lined road called Nerudova, until you reach a big set of steps on your right, take the ramp opposite the steps and this will get you to the front gates of the castle (most of the walls, moats and other defensive features are long-gone, meaning that the front entrance is a less than imposing set of railings, hardly likely to deter any would-be aggressor. This is where you can watch the hourly changing of the guard; the ceremonial guards wear uniforms designed by the costume-designer of the film Amadeus (which still look considerably less stupid than those worn by the guards at Buckingham Palace), and seem to find it hard taking the whole thing seriously. If you happen to enter the castle by the back entrance (and to each his own), which involves going up Klarov and then going up a big set of stairs, don't despair; there are guards here too and they also change hourly. The good news about the castle is that you can look around most of it, and the Cathedral, for free. If you want to have a look inside some of the specific exhibits you need to buy a ticket. A ticket will set you back 350 crowns and for that you get entry to The Old Royal Palace, The Story of Prague Castle, the Basilica of St George, the art gallery in the old Convent of St George, Golden Lane, and the Castle Picture Gallery. Given that looking round this lot could easily take you all day 350 crowns represents good value for money.
To make things simpler, I'll assume that you have entered the castle through the front gate; if not, close your eyes and make your way to the front gates and what I'm about to write will make more sense. Once you pass the sentries and the huge statues of blokes stabbing each other, you're in the First Courtyard (see why it's less confusing to describe it this way?). As there's nothing here you can go through the gate into the surprisingly-named Second Courtyard; the stairways on each side as you go through lead to some of the most impressive areas of the castle but unfortunately as the President lives there they're off-limits. The second courtyard is slightly more interesting than its predecessor; it has a fountain and also the end of the Chapel of the Holy Rood (Kaple sv. Krize), which now houses an information office and gift shop, but go in anyway to have a look at the original frescoes on the ceiling.
In the western corner there's the Castle Picture Gallery (entrance is included on your castle ticket). The Emperor Rudolf II was an almost compulsive collector of art and as a result in the early 16th century Prague boasted what was probably the finest collection of art in the world, and the old castle stables had been converted to hold it. Unfortunately after Rudolf’s death the collection was either moved away (mostly to Vienna), sold or stolen, and only a minute amount of what Rudolf gathered remains. Still, even though most of the best paintings are long gone, there’s still enough left to make a visit here worthwhile, including paintings by the likes of Lucas Cranach, Hans Holbein, Rubens, Tintoretto, Veronese, and Rudolf’s court painters, Hans von Aachen and Bartholomeus Spranger. The gallery isn’t that big, 2 big halls and 3 smaller ones, so you could have a good look at everything here in about an hour.
Going through more gates takes you to the third courtyard, easily the largest and most impressive if for no other reason that it contains the vast St Vitus Cathedral.
Work was started on the Cathedral in the first half of the 14th century and it was finally officially finished in the 1930s, although work was still being done into the 50s and 60s. As a result parts of the Cathedral are a chaotic mix of 500 years worth of architectural styles; have a look at the tower over the south door to see what I mean. Probably the most impressive part of the exterior is at the East end, with hordes of gargoyles and gothic flying-buttresses. In the south wall you there's also a spot where you can look through to the foundations and crypt, the south wall is probably the most decorative part of the Cathedral's exterior.
To have a look around the Cathedral you'll need to buy a ticket (100 crowns) which also includes access to the crypts and the south tower.
Inside the Cathedral is huge; the impressive stained glass windows date mostly from the 19th and 20th centuries (some them have the names of the companies who paid for them in there somewhere), including one by the famous art nouveau artists Alfons Mucha. Things not to miss inside the Cathedral include the ornate and completely over-the-top tomb of St John of Nepomuk, all in silver, complete with angels. Another Saint whose remains are in the Cathedral is St Vaclav, better known as Wenceslsas, still better known as "Good King Wenceslas", killed by his nasty brother in the 10th century and now buried in the Chapel of St Vaclav in the South of the Cathedral, richly decorated with jewels, gilding and paintings. A doorway in this chapel leads to a room containing the old crown-jewels of Bohemia which are not on display to the public (probably because of their great big sapphires). There's also an amazingly detailed wood carving of 17th century Prague, and the tombs of a few Bohemian Kings.
The Royal crypt is burial place of assorted members of the various royal families of Bohemia; disappointingly there are no skeletons on display, and most of the tombs were opened in the 20th century and have been reburied in modern sarcophagi. You also get to see the foundations of the earlier cathedral.
You can also climb up the Cathedral's south tower. It's quite a climb up to the top, up a narrow, winding staircase, made even more unpleasant by the fact that there's only one narrow, winding staircase and so while you're climbing up you'll have to squeeze your way past who are trying to climb down. Still, it's all worth it once you've made it to the top, the views in all directions are stunning.
In the third courtyard to the south of the cathedral you'll find a statue of a rather effeminate St George battling a not particularly scary dragon; this is a modern replica of the original 14th century statue (the original is now in the National Museum).
Also in the third courtyard is the Old Royal Palace (again it's on your ticket) which in fact consists of about 500 years-worth of different Royal Residences built around and on top of each other. The plain walls and lack of furnishings is a bit of a disappointment but there is still much to appreciate, not least the vast Vladislav Hall the largest room of its type in Europe, so big that in the past it was used for indoor jousting contests, and the Bohemian Diet, previously the throne room which has also been used for the coronation or swearing-in of every King and President of Bohemia, Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic, the tradition continuing with Vaclav Klaus. Other rooms within the Palace include the Royal Chapel (which you can look at, but not enter), and various throne and meeting rooms. History buffs may appreciate the Bohemian Chancellery where in 1618 a mob of Protestant noblemen chucked a couple of crown-appointed Catholic officials out of the window. The officials survived by virtue of landing on a heap of shit but the event (known as the Second Defenestration of Prague) was a catalyst for the 30 Years War.
Next to the Old Royal Palace is the Story of Prague Castle. This is a fascinating exhibition that tells the story of the Castle over the past 1000 years. There are some interesting large-scale models of how the castle has looked at various stages of its development, and there's lots of other stuff on display including archaeological finds, historic items (the helmet and chain mail armour of King/St Wenceslas, the burial robes of some of the Kings buried in the Cathedral), the original tomb of King Otokar II, bits of masonry from previous castle buildings, and facsimiles of historical documents.
If you carry on past the Cathedral you come to the red/brown Basilica of sv Jiri (better known as St George); the exterior conceals one of Prague's oldest buildings the 12th century basilica; it's worth going inside to look at the various frescoes, which date back to the 1200s, and the crypt.
Attached to the Basilica is the Convent of St George which sadly no longer contains nuns but is instead the home of the National Gallery's Bohemian art collection. There's nothing outstanding or world-famous in here, and the paintings of various Saints can get a bit repetitive, but there is some interesting stuff, and it's incuded on your tcket. The kind of place to spend a rainy afternoon.
From here if you head back round the North side of the Cathedral and you'll arrive at the Powder Tower (which shouldn't be confused with the Powder Gate in Namesti Republiki in the Nove Mesto, a mistake made by several guidebooks). The tower's history (Emperor Rudolf II installed his alchemists here as they tried to turn lead into gold) is perhaps more interesting than the current display of old alchemist's equipment.
Continuing past the Basilica on Jirska and turn left up a set of steps before you reach the Toy Museum. This takes you to Zlata Ulicka or Golden Lane, a road of minuscule houses most of which are now souvenir shops but which at one time or another provided accommodation for castle guards, goldsmiths (hence the name) and in 1916, Franz Kafka. I know that I can hardly be considered anorexic but it's a little worrying when, as the following photo proves, I'm nearly as big as a house. Try and get here when the place isn't over run with Japanese tour groups (although it doesn't get as busy as it used to now that you need a ticket to get in).
From Zlata Ulicka you can climb up (through house number 24) to the Obranna Chodba, a defensive corridor inside the castle walls, with lots of slits for firing arrows through looking out over the old deer pit, and lined with suits of armour and lots of gruesome medieval weapons. You can try out one of these gruesome weapons; at one end of the corridor is a firing-range where you try your luck at target-practice shooting a crossbow - 50 crowns for 5 bolts and you get to keep your target at the end of it! I lost our shoot-off, but that's because I'm sure that 2 of my bolts went through the same hole....
There are a couple more castle towers up here; at the eastern end of Obranna Chodba is Daliborka (Dalibor Tower) a former prison where, among others, Rudolf II imprisoned his alchemists after they unsurprisingly failed to turn lead into gold. The tower is named after the Bohemian nobleman of the same name held here in the 15th century (also the subject of a Smetana opera). It's open to have a look round. There's a display of gruesome medieval torture devices, some of which would turn the stomach of even a Tory M.P. The entrance to the prison is a small hole in the floor which prisoners had to be either lowered or, more likely, thrown through. It doesn't look very pleasant down there....
Continuing back along Jirska to the castle's rear entrance you'll first come to the Toy Museum (which, last time I was here had a special Barbie exhibition, which now seems to have been going on for at least the last 6 years).
More or less opposite it is the Lobkowicz Palace. The Lobkowicz's are a noble family with a long history of high service in the Holy Roman Empire. In 1939 most of their property, including the palace, was seized by the Nazis, and then again in the 1950s by the Communists. It wasn't until well over a decade after the Velvet Revolution that the palace was finally restored to the family. It has since undergone a thorough renovation and now houses the Lobkowicz Collections, which basically comprises one of the finest museums in Prague. Starting on the 2nd floor there are 2 rooms of portraits of the Lobkowicz family, mostly from the 16th and 17th centuries. Individually the paintings aren't particularly outstanding (with the exception of the tender portrait of a young princess, attributed to Velazquez, and one of the future Emperor Rudolf II as a young man), and it's a sad fact that in the 17th century the branches of the Lobkowicz family tree were pretty closely intertwined with those of the ugly tree, but taken together it's hard to imagine a more complete set of portraits in central Europe. Each painting has a caption underneath giving some details of the subject, which gives you a good idea of the history and importance of the family. Next comes the Ceramics Room, which includes Delft and Meissen ware and then the Treasury Room, which has some fantastically detailed mostly religious items, such as crucifixes and reliquaries, as well as some of the oldest items in the collection, such as a 12th century cross and the early 14th century bust of a female saint. Also in this room is small painting by Lucas Cranach the Elder. The next two rooms are a fairly uninspired collection of old swords, armour, and guns, but after this comes the Beethoven Room which holds some of the most significant objects in the collection. Over the years the Lobkowicz's were great supporters of music; they had their own orchestra and were patrons of numerous composers, in particular Beethoven. The room that's named after him holds some old musical instruments but more important are some of the documents; the original scores for Beethoven's 4th and 5th symphonies, with hand-written corrections by the composer, as well as original scores by other composers such as Mozart, Haydn, and Gluck.
Next comes the Bruegel Room which contains what is probably the highlight of the entire collection, Pieter Bruegel the Elder's "Haymaking", a landscape depicting peasants gathering the hay, one of a set of six allegories of the months painted by Bruegel. It's a lovely painting, full of life and detail, and looking as fresh and vibrant as the day it was painted over 450 years ago. Along with Durer's "Feast of the Rosaries" in the National Gallery it's the most important painting in Prague. There are more paintings in the following Caneletto Room, 2 massive canvasses of views of the Thames in London; the architectural detail is stunning, and goes to show what a complete pig's arse 19th and 20th century city planners made of London (albeit with a bit of help from the Luftwaffe). After this it's a bit of an anti-climax. There are more paintings, including some rather good ones of some of the Lobkowicz family's other castles. On the first floor the bird room (paintings of birds with real feathers stuck on) is a bit spooky, but the dog room (paintings of dogs) is good fun. There are some old engravings of Rome, and some intricate Chinese tapestries. If your interest starts to waiver there are some spectacular views of Prague, and the decoration in some of the rooms is sometimes more interesting than the exhibits (in particular the frescoes in the Balcony Room).
Entrance to the Lobkowicz Collections costs 275 crowns. If you really wanted to you could zip round it in less than an hour, but it's also the kind of place you could easily spend an entire afternoon in.
Heading back out of the front gates of the castle (or you could always come in through the back gate and follow my guide in reverse order) you find yourself in Hradcanske namesti (Castle Square), a largish green expanse surrounded on all sides by attractive buildings and offering excellent views out across the city. Worth looking at are the Archbishop's palace and the Schwarzenbegsky palace (which now contains the Museum of Military History; lots of cannon and tanks!).
Behind the Archbishop's Palace is the Sternbersky Palace (to reach it go down the passageway to the left of the Archbishop's Palace and through the big iron gates) which holds an art gallery which holds the National Gallery's collection of European Art. The collection is spread out over 3 floors so there's a lot to see, probably more than you can take in in one visit. A lot of the paintings on display are pretty mundane but Albrecht Durer's stunning "Feast of the Rosaries" is probably worth the price of admission on its own. There are some other pretty impressive paintings by the likes of Cranach, Hals, Tintoretto, El Greco, Rubens, and, probably the biggest attraction after the Durer, Rembrandt's "Scholar in his Study". Some of the rooms retain their original decoration from the time when this was an aristocratic palace; don't forget to look at the ceilings! Definitely a good place to spend a rainy afternoon (unless it's a Monday afternoon, when the gallery is closed), or if you're advancing in years like one of our group, somewhere to go for a peaceful nap.
To the south of the Castle is Petrin Hill, best known for the miniature Eiffel Tower that sits on top of it. To get to the top of the hill the easy way is take the funicular which accepts standard tram and underground tickets. Or if you're feeling manly/stubborn/hung-over/still drunk from the night before, or a combination of the above you can walk it. We decided on the latter, and with numerous stops to enjoy the view and recover our breath (getting overtaken by little old grannies out walking their dogs was a little embarrassing) it took us about 45 minutes. The hill is pretty steep but luckily the path zig-zags so it avoids the steepest bits, and if we could make it in the condition we were in Stephen Hawking should be able to manage it, without his wheelchair. There's a couple of restaurants about half way up the hill (the funicular stops next to them) but sadly they were closed in the morning when we were climbing, a quick pit stop for a couple of pints would have been most welcome. Running up the face of the hill is the Hunger Wall; this was a 14th century unemployment scheme whereby the King paid poverty-stricken peasants to build it. It's not quite as liberal as it first sounds because he paid them with money he stole from Bohemia's Jews, but I suppose it's a more constructive idea than simply handing out giros to work-shy scousers. Once (or in our case if) you reach the top the hill you'll find an odd little assortment of buildings, including an Observatory, the Church of St Lawrence (sv. Vavrinec), a mirror-maze, and the observation tower itself. If, like us, you choose to climb the hill in February when you get to the top you'll probably find that everything is closed. Bugger. Still, even without going up the tower the views on the way up and from the top of the hill make the climb worthwhile, and the air up here is noticeably fresher than the often-congested Old Town.
From Petrin it's a fairly easy (and sign-posted) walk across to Strahov, but I'll come to that later.
To the east of the castle, running along the north bank of the Vltava for a couple of miles or so is Letna Park. This green expanse is the perfect spot for a picnic (or just a few beers) in the summer, or a brisk walk in the winter. The views from here are superb, especially those down the river.
But there's plenty to look at here too. Setting off from the castle take the passageway that runs northwest from the second courtyard and over the Prasny most, a bridge that runs over what used to be the castle's deer pit (basically where they used to keep "wild" game until they decided to release and hunt it), stopping to admire the view you get of the Cathedral. Keep going until you meet the main road of Marianske hradby and turn right. After about 5 minutes of walking alongside the castle gardens you'll come to the Belvedere, also known as the Summer Palace, a 16th century building in the style of the Italian Renaissance. Unfortunately this was closed for renovations when I was last there, but this is the spot from where you can get the best views of the Cathedral.
Continuing east you enter first the smaller Chotkovy Sady (another park) and then Letna Park itself. Things to keep an eye out for, running roughly from east to west include the Zeyer memorial, a sculpture commemorating the 19th century poet Julius Zeyer (I'm sure he must be pretty famous in Prague...), which consists of a group of statues hanging round in a artificial cave, with a small pond in front of it. Maybe it featured in one of his poems? Continuing east you'll come across the Hanavsky pavilion, built in an Art Nouveau style for the 1891 Prague Exhibition this attractive building now houses a café. The views from the terrace are great. Further along still is the giant concrete plinth that used to support the world's largest statue of Stalin, but nowadays boasts a giant metronome instead. Under here is Prague's Cold War nuclear bunker. This shows why the communists lost the Cold War; if I was going to aim a nuclear bomb at Prague I can't think of a more tempting or deserving target than the world's largest Stalin statue, so choosing to put a nuclear bunker directly under it seems particularly silly. I'd have built mine under the American Embassy.
Between the castle and the Vlatava lies the Mala Strana (or "Lesser Quarter"), a maze of cobbled streets, palaces, churches and embassies. The best way of exploring the Mala Strana is to get yourself lost and wander aimlessly around (you can never get really lost as the castle looms above you at all times); you may even have the slightly surreal experience of coming across a bust of Winston Churchill, located by the British embassy. Also keep an eye out for some of the decorated house signs which in olden days were used as the address, before someone came up with the boring idea of using numbers instead.
The main road of the Mala Strana is Nerudova which connects the castle and Malostranske namesti, the districts' main square. This often steep road is lined with restaurants and bars aimed a luring in passing tourists (some very reasonably priced; a few years ago a ginger acquaintance of mine had roast pheasant for less than £2), touristy tat and crystal shops, and several embassies (the Romanian embassy, although slightly faded, is particularly impressive, as is the pigeon-shit encrusted Italian one). About half way up Nerudova lies the rusty coloured Cajetan Church, worth a couple of minutes of your attention if you want to catch your breath; especially if you're a fan of colourful marble and gold leaf. If you're here around Christmas the church also has a display of nativity scenes, probably around 100 of them. That's a lot of shepherds. Some of them were actually pretty good.
The most impressive building is the Mala Strana is the Church of sv Mikulas (better known as St Nicholas, aka Father Christmas, possibly). Its towering domed exterior is impressive enough but inside it's even better; you can peek in through the door free but you have to pay to get inside and have a good look round. After 4 years of peeping through the windows I finally took the plunge and paid up and it was well worth it. The interior is stunning, the roof is covered with huge frescoes, and the walls with huge marble altars and statues, and lots of gold leaf. It's hardly surprising that it's popular as a location for films (I've seen it in Amadeus and Immortal Beloved).
If you head north from Malostranske namesti up Tomasska you'll come to the Valdstejnsky palac (Waldenstein Palace); the 17th century palace, originally home to a Habsburg aristo and war-lord, now houses the upper house of the Czech Senate and so is off-limits to visitors, but you are allowed into the gardens and these are well worth a look (as well as being free!). The renaissance gardens are formally laid out, with fountains, statues, small expanses of grass and low hedges in symmetric patterns. Something very much like the photo below, in fact. The statues, by the way, are replicas of the originals. If you want to see the originals you'll have to go to Sweden; the Swedes nicked them and carted them up to Stockholm in 1648. Bastards. There's also a big pond full of goldfish, some of which are huge. If you want more wildlife there's an aviary, which according to my Rough Guide should house the garden's peacocks, but when I was there it held 4 or 5 enormous owls. Maybe owls in Prague like to eat peacock. Or maybe the Swedes had away with them too. The two most interesting parts of the gardens are probably the loggia, basically a big building done up like a Roman temple, and covered in paintings, and the grotto, a big, curved wall covered in artificial stalactites and weird sculptures in the form of animals and faces. It's very strange. There's another entrance to the gardens from Letenska.
There are a couple of other churches that are worth a look in this area. Sv Tomas (St Thomas) is the one with the colourful exterior and big pointy tower that's opposite the northeastern corner of Malostranske namesti, one of the Mala Strana's oldest churches, although it was mostly rebuilt in the early 18th century. The lofty interior isn't quite as impressive as St Mikulas but it's not far behind. The walls are a restrained plain white but with a series of ornate side altars while the roof has a series of frescoes. The golden main altar has replicas of two paintings by Rubens (the originals can be seen in the National Gallery's collection of European Art in the Sternbersky Palace. For those who like that kind of thing there are also the skeletal remains of a couple of saints (Boniface and Just, if you're interested) housed in glass fronted coffins. Just around the corner on Josefsksa is the smaller and much more intimate church of Sv Josef (St Joseph). The ornate door and orange paint job are the most distinctive features outside, the domed interior is plain apart from a series of baroque altars.
If you're feeling energetic head down Karmelitska and then turn right onto Trziste. This cobbled street appears harmless enough at first, and takes you past some of Prague's finest baroque and renaissance palaces, most of which have now been converted into embassies, such as the Schonbornsky palac (now the US embassy) and the Lobkovicky palac (now the German embassy). Trziste then changes name to Vlasska, gets even narrower, and a hell of a lot steeper as it heads up in the direction of the Strahov Monastery. You end up in a nice park below the Monastery, with awesome views and benches where you can take them in and get your breath back, but this is not a hike that should be attempted after staying up until 6 a.m. the previous night drinking absinth.
Lying between the castle and Petrin Hill the Strahovsky klaster (Strahov Monastery) stands out on the Prague skyline, especially when they light it up at night. The monastery dates from the 12th century but the extensive complex has been extensively remodeled since. There are a couple of churches up here; one is now used as an art gallery but the other Nanebezveti Panny Marie (Blessed Virgin Mary) is still in use. There's also an art gallery housed within the Monastery; Durer's "Feast of the Rosaries" was once here until the monks sold it to the National Gallery.
Most people come up to Strahov to see the monastery library. You can't actually take any books out (or even touch them), and you have to pay to get in (60 crowns) but its' well worth it. As well as a collection of ancient books and documents the library's two richly decorated halls, the Philosophical Hall and the Theological Hall are unmissable. The Philosophical Hall is the bigger, more colourful, and has more books, but the Theological Hall is possibly more interesting, maybe because of the big collection of antique globes. You're not allowed into the halls but you can gawk from the door. It costs an extra 50 crowns to take photos, and you're not allowed to use flash.
More or less between Strahov and the Castle is the Loreta, Prague's premier place of pilgrimage (try saying that pissed). The easiest way of finding it is from the top of Nerudova, instead of going up the ramp towards the castle head up the steps opposite, and then follow Loretanska, which leads to Loretanske namesti. The outside of the Loreta is a lovely ornate white and gold baroque building, complete with bell tower (on the hour the carillon plays a quirky and not especially religious sounding tune), and studded with assorted statues, most probably of various Saints, but I've no idea which ones. Inside the Loreta is built around a replica of the Santa Casa. For those who don't know the story the Santa Casa is the home of Mary of Nazareth that was miraculously transported by angels from Palestine to Italy to protect it from the Muslim Turks. Total and utter bollocks, of course, unless you honestly believe that a Palestinian peasant really lived in a huge marble box covered in Renaissance sculptures and statues. Anyway, once news of this "miracle" started to spread replicas of the Santa Casa started to sprout up all over Europe, and work on Prague's version of it started in 1626.
The main body of the Loreta is built like a cloister around the Santa Casa, and for the truly penitent there are a series of alters around the inside of the courtyard, and the Loreta also encompasses the over the top baroque ostentation of the Kostel Narozeni Pane (Church of the Nativity), replete with frescoes, gold leaf, lots of coloured marble, and the skeletal remains of a pair of Saints. There's more to see in the Loreto; as well as being able to go inside the Santa Casa (which is brick vaulted, with some fragments of the original frescoes), there are couple of the original bells from the bell tower that had to be replaced when they started playing bum notes, and one of the chapels in the cloister is dedicated to (and has a painting of) a bearded lady, Saint Wilgefortis if you really want to know, who miraculously grew a beard in a successful attempt to avoid an arranged marriage to the King of Sicily. Rather more drastic than simply faking a headache, and it backfired somewhat when her irate father had her crucified.
You also get to have a look around the Loreta Treasury, basically a collection of rather valuable looking objects that have been donated to the Loreta over the years, apparently by seriously rich people; there's precious metals and stones a-plenty. The centre-piece of the collection is a rather gaudy 17th century monstrance studded with more diamonds than I've had hot pies. The thickness of the bank-vault like door to the treasury gives you some idea how much all this stuff is worth.
Entry to the Loreta costs 90 crowns, although I did notice a sign saying that ministers are admitted free of charge. I did toy with trying to get in for free on account of my being a Reverend in the Universal Life Church (It's true! Anyone can be ordained, just follow this link), but I was worried they might have thought that I was taking the piss.
OK, time for just one more church. From Mostecka, which leads from Malostranske namesti to Charles Bridge, take a quick detour south down Lazenska, which leads to Kostel Panny Marie pod retezem (Church of St Mary Below the Chain). One of Prague's oldest churches it was originally built in the late 12th century, pulled down and rebuilt in the 14th century (some fragments of the original church can still be seen), although they never actually got around to putting a roof over the whole church, which is why once you've walked through the archway between the twin gothic towers you're basically standing in a garden. The church was originally built and has recently been returned to the Order of the Knights of Malta, and owes its rather stupid name to the fact that in olden times it was the Knight's job to guard the Judith Bridge, which spanned the Vltava before the Charles Bridge was built. The Knight's Embassy in Prague (they have full diplomatic accreditation) stands next to the church, and the church's iron front gates have a rather nice "Knights of Malta" design.
Just about in the Mala Strana, and worth have a look around is the "island" of Kampa (an island created by a small canal that used to power water mills; one of them, complete with water wheel, is still there and is very photogenic). This area is sometimes called Little Venice, which is stretching it a bit as there only seems to be one canal here, and it isn't very long. You also get good views of the Charles Bridge, and can walk through some of its arches.
The Charles Bridge (Karluv Most) is probably Prague's best-known monument; a long, multiple-arched medieval (building started in 1357) construction, lined with statues.
In your hurry to get on the bridge, don't overlook the towers at each end. There are two towers on the western bank; one of them was previously attached to an even older bridge (the Judith Bridge), and you can climb up inside the other one for superb views. The statues were mostly added of the course of the last 300 hundred years (and due to pollution- the bridge wasn't pedestrianised until the 1950s- most of the statues are replicas); some of the statues of obscure and tedious saints, are a little boring and repetitive, but I liked the one with the blokes in a Turkish prison (reminds me of a scene from Airplane). Historically significant is the statue of St John of Nepomuk (whose tomb is in the cathedral); it was from this spot that he was chucked from the bridge to his death (this was in the days when the Vlatava was far more of a raging torrent than it is now; if thrown from the bridge today the only way he could possibly die would be to land head-first and get his head stuck in the mud of the river bed. Actually, the fact that he'd been tortured for a while before his dunking probably didn't help). There's a bronze plaque you can touch for good luck (hopefully better luck than John, at least). You can also climb the tower on the Eastern bank, which also holds historical exhibits, but sadly not the severed heads that used to be hung on the tower in less enlightened times. Be warned that as Prague's most popular tourist spot the bridge is nearly always busy, packed with tour groups (bloody tourists), buskers, and small stalls selling various bits of arts and crafts, or tat as it's otherwise known.
You can climb up to the top of the tower on the Stare Mesto bank too. The views in all directions are well worth the climb.
At the eastern end of Charles Bridge is Krizovnicke namesti (Crusader Knights Square). The statue in this small square is the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. He's the guy that the bridge is named after. The views across the Vltava to the Castle and Cathedral from here are absolutely breathtaking. The domed church on the north side of Krizovnicke namesti is the Kostel sv Frantisek z Assisi (Church of St Francis of Assisi). Like the Church of St Mary Below the Chain on the opposite side of the river in the Mala Strana this one was also built for an order of Knights, this time the Crusader Knights of the Red Star. The Church was built (on the site of an even older church) in the 1680s, and is often used for classical concerts, which are well worth catching, and it's usually open to visitors when there aren't any concerts. It's well worth having a look around inside the church, which is richly decorated with frescoes (a particularly big one covers the inside of the dome), coloured marble, and statues of saints (helpfully with their names below them, so you've got at least some idea who they're supposed to be). Look out for the narrow ledge that runs around the inside of the church, about half way up, with only a rope hand-rail to hang on to it looks rather precarious.
The baroque church on the opposite side of the road is Kostel sv Salvatora (St Saviour's Church), part of the Klementinum; more on that in a moment. Be careful of the traffic here; it's impossible to see oncoming traffic and the road is usually busy. Although it can be entertaining watching a version of Frogger played with Japanese tourists, you should only try and cross when the light is green. You're now in the Stare Mesto (Old Town). This is also a popular spot for pickpockets.
Directly opposite the Charles Bridge is Karlova, one of Prague's main tourist-streets, lined with shops selling tourist essentials like t-shirts, Russian dolls, postcards, counterfeit Soviet military memorabilia (I highly recommend the watches and furry hats) and bottles of absinthe (actually, the absinthe is fairly essential). There are also a couple of museums along here; one dedicated to puppets and another to medieval torture implements. I know which one sounds more fun to me! The complex of buildings on the north side of Karlova is the Klementinum, the college founded by the Jesuit order after they had been invited to Bohemia in the 16th century to try and counter the protestant reformation. The Klementinum holds a pair of churches (St Saviour's, mentioned above, and St Clement's - sv Kliment), and it also houses the Czech Republic's National Library, as a result of which it is out of bounds to the public unless you pay to go on one of the guided tours that go round every couple of hours. Concerts are also frequently held in the Klementinum, usually in the Mirror Chapel; I've seen photos and it looks very nice!
Karlova twists and turns but if you stick with it you'll eventually come to Staromestske namesti, the Old Town Square, one of the highlights of Prague.
The first thing you notice about the square is that it's very big, which is a good job as it's another meeting point for hordes of tourists. The next thing you notice is that the square is bounded on all sides by absolutely stunning buildings. In the middle of the square is a huge sculpture, the Jan Hus monument (for the ignorant, Hus was a 15th century religious reformer burned at the stake as a heretic in 1415, although in fairness this was overturned by the Vatican in the 1960s, which I'm sure came as a great comfort to him). This impressive monument would no doubt be even more impressive if it weren't covered in pigeon-shit.
Every hour, on the hour, you'll see a huge crowd congregate by the old town hall (Staromestska radnice) to watch the astronomical clock (horloj). When the clock strikes the hour there's a show featuring a procession of puppets including various saints, Death, and one or two politically-incorrect religious stereotypes (in its defence, it is 500 years old). The clock itself is about as simple as programming a video, and apparently tells the time in Bohemian and Persian as well as "normal" time, and can track the movement of stars and planets (or at least how they were thought to work in the 15th century) and details Saint's days. It doesn't have a stopwatch though.
You can climb the tower of the old town hall (using the stairs inside, obviously, not like Spiderman up the outside). It only costs 60 crowns and it's a pretty easy climb (well, I managed it...) as the staircase is fairly modern rather than one of those steep spiral ones, and for the truly lazy, infirm, or fat there's even a lift going up to the top (which I suspect hasn't been there since the tower was first built...). It's well worth the climb as you're not going to get a better view of the Old Town than this.
You can also have a look around the inside of the Old Town Hall as part of a guided tour. This tells you how the Town Hall has expanded over the years since it was first set up in 1338, gradually taking over the adjoining houses. The tour starts off in the chapel in the tower itself; the decoration here is fairly modern as this area was badly damaged at the end of World War II. If you're there at the right time you get a "behind the scenes" look at the puppet show above the astronomical clock. You then go through a series of rooms that are still used by the Prague city council. Their appearance varies a lot; some are very plain, the main council chamber was redecorated in a cubist style in the 1920s, whereas in some room parts of the original 15-16th century decorations are preserved. You then get to have a look at the cellars underneath the Town Hall; like many ancient cities the street level in Prague has gradually risen over the years and so these rooms and streets which were once at street level are now buried underground. It's very atmospheric down there, if a bit claustrophobic, and the cellars seem to stretch on for miles. Over the years they've been used as a wine cellar, dungeons, for document storage, and also by the resistance during World War II. The guided tour (which takes place in several languages) takes around an hour and costs 60 crowns, brilliant value for money.
Easily the most distinctive building in the square is the towering Tyn Church (Church of Our Lady before Tyn) with its double (but not identical) towers looking like some kind of Gothic pylon. The church is so big that you can only really appreciate it at a distance (or from the top of the Old Town Hall tower). You can enter the church by going through one of the arches of one of the buildings in front of it (the entrance is sign-posted). The interior of the church was under renovation when I was last there, but it's well worth a visit. There is a great contrast between the original, austere gothic interior and the later, ornate renaissance decoration, including icons and paintings galore, gilded altars, and brightly coloured marble pillars. The church also holds the grave of one of Prague's more interesting characters, Tycho de Brahe, a Danish astronomer invited to Prague in the 16th century. Before that he had lived on an island in the Baltic where he had a pet moose that unfortunately died after it fell down some stairs after drinking too much beer and broke its leg. Tycho had a golden artificial nose after losing his original in a duel (i'm not making any of this up, you know!) and died of a burst bladder suffered while attending a piss-up when he considered it better manners to sit at the table and suffer in silence when he was busting for a slash. This is a good precedent to quote to police officers (in Prague or any other city) who take umbrage when they catch you pissing in the street.
Next to the Tyn Church is Dum U kamennho zvonu (House at the Stone Bell), a former Queen's residence. Its comparatively plain exterior looks a little out of place when compared to the Square's other colourful buildings; this is because when the house was being restored in the 1970s it was decided to strip away the more ornate 17th and 18th century additions and restore it to its original appearance. It certainly looks more interesting this way.
The other church located on the square (although it wasn't actually on the square itself until the Nazis burnt down a wing of the Old Town Hall in 1945) is the Church of Sv Mikulas at the north western corner, an attractive 18th century renaissance building. It's very nice inside too with lots of decoration; frescoes, marble, and an ornate organ. The church is frequently used as a venue for classical concerts, and these can be well worth catching. We went to an excellent one (by the Prague String Orchestra) with music by Mozart, Vivaldi, and Bach and some Christmas songs at the end (you haven't lived until you've heard "Jingle Bells" sung in Czech...).
The Old Town Square is the site of a big market around Christmas time. The main attraction for us was the little nativity scene complete with real live sheep, goats, a donkey and a lama (don't remember that in the bible) but there also dozens of stalls selling everything from chocolates and genuine handicrafts through to out and out tourist tat. You can drink yourself silly on hot mulled wine and mead or stuff yourself stupid on roast chestnuts, hot dogs, or big slabs of pork carved off a freshly roasting pig.
Adjoining the Old Town Square to the west is Male Namesti (Lesser Square), the highlight of which is the 19th century Rott House, an extravagantly painted shop which now houses a jewellers and a restaurant.
If you go down the small alleyway to the left of the Tyn Church you'll see small archway opposite you when you reach the end of it. Go through this and you'll find yourself in Ungelt, also known as the Tyn Courtyard. In olden times it was an enclosed market square, used mainly by German traders. It's name, in German, means "no money", an attempt to stop would-be bandits from attacking it. I've no idea if that cunning tactic worked, but you'd have to be a really stupid robber to fall for that one. Today the square has been thoroughly restored; the buildings that surround it house some exclusive (i.e. expensive) shops and restaurants, but despite this Ungelt remains a surprisingly peaceful and laid-back place, a good way to escape from the bustle of the Old Town Square for a while.
If you go through the archway at the eastern edge of Ungelt on your left you'll see the Kostel sv Jakuba (St James' Church). It was originally built in the 14th century but has been remodeled and rebuilt several times since. The towering white Baroque exterior, complete with ornate carvings around the door and windows is impressive enough, but the interior is absolutely breathtaking, covered in frescoes.
From the square you've got a choice of directions. Celetna (home to most of Prague's posh shops) will eventually get you to another square, Namesti Republiki, but I'll save that for later. So instead head up the broad tree-lined boulevard that is Parizska, which will take you to Josefov, Prague's ancient Jewish quarter.
There has been a Jewish presence in Prague for most of its history, although it has almost completely disappeared since the Nazi occupation and subsequent communist rule. Although many of the former slum-tenements and old synagogues of the ghetto were destroyed in a city-improvement scheme in the last century much still remains. Incredibly many Jewish buildings and artefacts even survived the Nazi occupation (even if most of the Jewish population did not), the reason for this being that the Nazis planned to set up a museum to an "extinct race" and so preserved most of what you can now see as exhibits. The strangely-named Old-New Synagogue (it was new when it was built and later became old) on Maiselova is the oldest still-used Synagogue in Europe (building began in the 13th century) and it's well worth paying to have a look around inside.
You can buy a separate ticket to enter this synagogue but better value is an all-inclusive ticket which will allow you in here and all the other sites of the Jewish Museum, which consists of the following: The Obradni Sim is an attractive 20th century building overlooking the cemetery; this contains an exhibits and artefacts mainly concentrating on the traditions and rites surrounding death in Jewish society and the role of the Jewish Burial Society; it's probably the least interesting section of the Jewish museum. The Pinkas Synagogue on Siroka is certainly the most moving; after WWII it was turned into a memorial for Czech victims of the holocaust, with the walls covered with the names, dates of birth and death of all the Czech Jews who died, nearly 80,000 names covering every square inch of the walls. The synagogue was closed by the Soviets in the 60s on "safety grounds" but was reopened, restored and completed after the Velvet Revolution. Perhaps even more harrowing is the display on the first floor of drawings made by children in the transportation camp at Terezin (where most of Prague's Jews were initially sent, and from there to the concentration camps). Through the Pinkas Synagogue you can access the old Jewish Cemetery (Stary zidovsky hrbitov). Over the course of 400 years nearly 100,000 people were buried in this small space; whenever the cemetery ran out of room another layer of earth was dumped on top and so more burials could take place. As a result the gravestones are spread chaotically and there is almost no open space (so you have to stick to the roped-off walkways); many of the gravestones are decorative and ornate but show the result of being exposed to 500 years of Prague weather but a systematic restoration is in progress. If you are there when it's not swamped by tourists this is one of the most peaceful and tranquil places in the city.
The Maiselova Synagogue on Maiselova has a display of Jewish religious and secular artefacts, and tells the history of Prague's Jews, detailing what a pretty shitty time of it they've had over the past 1000 years, the holocaust being the culmination of this. This history is concluded in the Spanish Synagogue (Spanelska synagoga) on Vezenska in which you could also spend hours admiring the ornate, richly decorated interior. A ticket to get you in all the sites of the Jewish museum and the Old-New Synagogue will set you back around £10, but considering you can spend pretty much an entire day looking round everything it is well worth it.
Most of the buidlings of Josefov date from the late 19th to early 20th centuries, and a happy result of this is that many of the buildings here were given art noveau flourishes when they were built. These range from stained glass windows, to paintings, statues or sculpture. A lot of the buildings are now in a state of disrepair, although strangely I find that this kind of adds to their charm, but this area of Prague is slowly undergoing a thorough renovation, and happily these art noveau touches are being restored and preserved. Whaen you're walking through the streets of Josefov don't forget to look up, as most of the architectural detail is above street level.
Also in Josefov, on the banks of the Vlatava you'll find the Rudolfinium, an impressive 19th century concert-hall, home of the internationally renowned Czech Philharmonic orchestra. Further down the river, beyond the Charles bridge (and not actually in Josefov) music-lovers may also appreciate the Bedrich Smetana Museum, dedicated to the famous Czech composer (who met a surprisingly rock-and-roll end, dying of the clap in a nut-house).
On the opposite side of the Stare Mesto is Namesti Republiky (which you can reach by following Celetna from the Old Town Square). Namesti Republiky contains one of my favourite buildings in Prague, the ornate Obecni dum ("Municipal House"), an early 20th century Art Nouveau extravagance built on the site of the old Royal Palace. This was under renovation (and hence, scaffolding) on my first trip to Prague, but now it's refurbished and back with a vengeance. The richly decorated exterior is impressive enough, but it gets even better inside. The (expensive) bar/cafe on the ground floor gives you a reasonable chance to have a look round, and there are also regular guided tours. If you can though, try and attend a concert in the massive and totally over-the-top Smetana Hall inside; seats up in the balcony will give you the best views of this amazing hall. You should have no problems buying tickets (starting from around £10, expensive by Prague concert standards) from the guys in costume outside.
Next door to the Obecni dum is the Powder Gate (Prasna brana), one of the 15th century gates o the Stare Mesto; there's a small museum inside and you can also climb up to the top.
From Namesti Republiki you can go through the Powder Gate and follow Celetna into the Stare Mesto; this will take you past numerous shops (not all of them pandering to the tourist trade) to the Old Town Square. Or you can head down Na Prikope which will take you to the bottom of Wenceslas Square. Na Prikope is probably Prague's flashiest shopping street.
Also on Na Prokope you'll find one of Prague's newer and quirkier museums, the Museum of Communism (at number 10 sandwiched, possibly with a sense if irony, between a McDonalds and a casino). The museum starts off by telling the story of communism in general before going on to tell how it affected Czechoslovakia in particular. The story is told by multi-language captions (they were in Czech, English, German, Russian, and French), and there's also an eclectic, almost random selection of communist-era items (posters, furniture, household items, and clothing). Unlike many modern museums there are no multimedia or interactive exhibits, but it avoids being too dry by retaining a bit of a sense of humour in the captions. For example, it tells how the secret service got bored bugging "dissident's" conversations and instead starting taping "erotic encounters", and in the section explaining the black market they pick the entirely random scenario of "a young girl sleeping with a foreigner" (apparently it was $20 for an all-nighter back then, all those stag-party Brits are about 30 years too late...). There were also some interesting photos on the construction of the Stalin statue and, more satisfyingly, photos of it being blown up. The museum also looks at the communist attitude to education, sport, and its relationship to the capitalist west. There's also a moving section on Jan Palach (more about him when we get to Wenceslas Square). Towards the end the museum goes back to communism in general, looking at Gorbachev, the fall of the Berlin Wall (but no mention of the key role played by David Hasselhoff!), and the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. The slight on "the Hoff" aside, I was entertained while I was in there and came out feeling that I'd learned something, and I suppose you can't really ask more than that from a museum. It costs 180 crowns to get in, and is well worth a couple of hours of your time..
Before heading up Wenceslas Square head down the road called Na Mustuku and turn right; the attractive green and white building you'll see is the Estates Theatre (Stavovske divaldo), which dates from the 1780s and is where Mozart conducted the premier of his opera Don Giovanni.
Just to the southwest of the Estates Theatre is the Kostel sv Havel (St Gall's Church), historically the church used by Prague's German community. The outside appearance is a bit strange, a graceful baroque facade with a pair of renaissance towers tacked on as a sort of after-thought. The inside is more harmonious, the walls are plain but there's plenty of decoration in the form of marble side-alters and statues.
Head down Rytirska to Uhelny square (the main red light district at night, more Google hits!). Just to the south of the square you'll find the 12th century church of Sv Martin ve zdi (St Martin in the Walls). The Church's slightly odd name derives from the time when the church building was actually a part of the city's medieval fortifications. The interior is rather plain compared to the exterior, with plain white walls and brick vaulting, but it makes a bit of a change from some of Prague's other overly-decorated churches. The church is now mainly used for classical concerts.
Right, another church, the Kosel sv Jilji (St Giles Church) is on Husova. It's an absolutely huge building, and the contrast between the lofty, austere gothic exterior and the baroque exuberance of the frescoes, gold-leaf, marble, and alters inside could not be more defined. Worth a look, if you're in this neck of the woods.
OK, one last church for now. Near the bottom end of Wenceslas Square is the Church of St. Mary-of-the-Snows (Kostel Panna Maria Snezna). It's now hemmed in by the surrounding high-rise shops and so is very easy to miss but when construction started in the 14th century it was intended to be the largest church in Prague. Unfortunately the money ran out when only a small part had been completed, but what they did build gives you some idea of the intended scale. To see the church you need to head through the archway on the small Jungmannovo namesti, which brings you into a small, peaceful courtyard where the church stands. It's worth looking inside the church if only to see the huge, totally over the top gilded baroque altar.
From here head back to Wenceslas Square, which as I said before isn't really a square at all but I suppose it sounds better than "Wenceslas partially pedestrianised oblong". The square is best appreciated from the bottom end, where you get a better idea of the varying architectural styles of the modern buildings lining it, with the statue of King Wenceslas and the National Museum (Narodni muzeum) at the top. Interesting buildings along the square (for architecture buffs at least) include the art nouveau Grand Hotel Europa. Also in Wenceslas Square you'll find numerous shops, restaurants and bars, the previously mentioned sausage-stalls, and plenty of seedy nightclubs. Up at the top end of the square you'll find the monument to Jan Palach (which marks the spot where a student set himself on fire in 1969 in protest at the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia; he died three days later and the Communists stayed in power another 20 years so it was a bit of a futile gesture, but I suppose it contrasts with British students whose idea of radical protest politics is to name their Student Union bars after Nelson Mandela or, more likely, Rolf Harris). His actions spawned several imitators. A little further up is the early 20th century statue of King Wenceslas, after which the square is rudely severed by Wilsonova. Cut off from the Square by Wilsonova is the National Museum; the building itself is very impressive, especially when illuminated at night, but the contents of the museum are less inspiring.
From the top of Wenceslas Square you could head North on Wilsonova which will take you to several interesting buildings including the State Opera House (Gustav Mahler used to conduct here), the remarkable railway station (complete with superfluous Art Noveau decoration) and further along the Prague Museum (Muzeum Prahy), worth visiting just for some scale models of the city as it used to look.
If none of this takes your fancy, instead head south on Mezibranska and then West on Jecna. This will take you to Charles Square (Karlovo Namesti) which has a pleasant enough park and the New Town Hall (Novomestska radnice) but before you reach Charles Square first take a diversion down Ke Karlovu. This will take you first to the Dvorak Museum; although the house and gardens have been nicely restored to how they would have looked in Dvorak's day there aren't that many exhibits, and although an English translation is available it's probably only really worth going in if you're already an admirer of the composer.
Further on down Ke Karlovu is Prague's Police Museum, for some reason housed in a former monastery. In my opinion this museum is worth visiting just to read some of the English captions. I say English in it's loosest possible sense; somebody has apparently translated the captions from Czech into German, and then from German into English. Unfortunately they translated word for word, meaning that they retained the word-order from the German grammar; it's equally hilarious and incomprehensible. Actually the museum itself is reasonably interesting; lots of guns and photos of dead bodies and crime scenes if that's your type of thing. If anyone visits please let me know if they still have the visitor's book in which 5 years ago somebody bearing a not dissimilar resemblance to myself may have left a rude message. Perhaps not the best idea in a Police Museum, but it seemed funny at the time.
From Charles Square keep going down Resslova towards the river. Whilst you're in this neck of the woods you should definitely not miss out on the Orthodox Cathedral of Sts. Cyril and Metodej. The 18th century building is pleasant enough, if not exceptional, but there's a clue to it's more interesting history in a plaque on the outside wall. It was here in 1942 that Czech secret agents hid out after assassinating Reinhard Heydrich. Heydrich was the Nazi Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia, an architect of the Final Solution, and an all-round blonde, blue-eyed SS poster boy (ironic, considering he was quite possibly part-Jewish). The Czech agents had been trained in and parachuted in from Britain. The assassination attempt didn't go as planned but Heydrich died several days later from wounds received (apparently horse hair from the upholstered seats in his limo got into his blood stream and caused complications when they reached his heart). The agents hid out in the Cathedral crypt (with the help of the priests) until they were betrayed, when there followed a shoot-out in the Church and a siege in the crypt, when among other things the Nazis attempted to flood them out. Seeing no way out the agents committed suicide but the matter didn't end there; the Nazis annihilated the Czech village of Lidice as a reprisal. Today the damage to the Church seems to have been mostly repaired but there's a small but highly informative and moving museum in the crypt, giving details of the history of Heydrich, the Czechoslovak agents, the assassination, and its repercussions. The crypt has also been left pretty much how it was, with the bullet holes still there, and the remains of a tunnel that the agents started to dig in a desperate attempt to escape through the city sewers..
Keep heading for the river and you'll be greeted by one of Prague's most interesting modern buildings, the Tancici dum ("Dancing House", or the "Fred and Ginger Building"); the building's two towers are designed to resemble a couple dancing).
A stroll along the river bank at this point definitely has it's rewards; I'd recommend a walk down the river to Vysehrad (although you can also take the tram) to take in the many attractive buildings that run along side the Vlatava. You can also make a few diversions to explore some of the islands of the Vlatava; these are a pleasant enough place for a picnic (most of the nearby shops sell bottled Staropramen beer), and Zofin island has a concert hall on it. There's also some interesting architecture here - some very fine art nouveau apartment buildings along the river bank, and internationally known cubist houses when you reach Vysehrad.
After a brisk walk (or idle stroll, or even more idle tram ride) you'll cross over into the district of Vysehrad. Vysehrad means "High Castle", and is thought to be the earliest settled area in Prague (at least if you believe the legends). What remains today are the walls of a 17th century Habsburg fortress and barracks, enclosing a large area of parkland, which also includes a big church and an amazing graveyard. I suppose I'd better go into a bit more detail....
Unless you've travelled down on the metro, you're going have to climb up a fairly steep hill to get to the fortress; there are some steps running up from Rasinovo nabrezi, but they can be a bit of a bugger to climb in the winter. At least you can stop every so often and admire the views back to the centre of Prague; the castle looks particularly impressive from here.
Before you climb these stairs though keep an eye out for some of the intriguing Cubist-style buildings that dot this part of the city. Anyway, after climbing the stairs the first thing you'll see is the massive, twin-spired Church of St Peter and Paul (you really can't miss it, it's visible from most of Prague). Although not especially attractive from the outside, the inside is completely different, richly decorated and covered in frescoes. It isn't always open but when it is it's well worth paying the equivalent of less than 50p but look around.
Next to the Church is the Vysehrad Cemetery; anyone foolish enough to have read all of this site (actually, I know of one person who's tried this; cheers Threllers!) will know that I have something of a fascination with graveyards (well, I did live in the middle of one for seven years: Really!) and this is certainly one of my favourites. It's the complete opposite of Prague's other great graveyard, the Jewish cemetery. It's well ordered and laid out for one, and the graves are all well preserved. In fact, many of them could be considered works of art, with lots of statues and monuments (one of them has a statue of a naked woman, and the person buried therein is called "Bendova"; funny or what!). This is where the great and good of Czech history (or the last 150 years of it at any rate) are buried. Not just anyone can be buried in here, you have to have had been somebody (and that doesn't include communist functionaries). Graves to keep an eye out for include Smetana's and Dvorak's, but you could easily spend the afternoon in here looking round the graves of people you've never heard of. On the other side of the church is a big lawn with four giant statues on it. You should definitely have a walk around the fortress ramparts; the views from here are often breathtaking. Also within the fortress walls is the Rotunda of St Martin, built in the 11th century but much restored since then. You can also have a look around some of the underground passages beneath the fort, and it is here that the original statues from Charles Bridge are stored after they're replaced by less pollution-damaged copies. For some reason (probably idleness) most tourists who come to Prague don't bother coming to Vysehrad. As a result it's a great place to come to get away from the crowds for an afternoon or so; if the weather's nice, bring along a few bottles, sit back and enjoy the views.
From Vysehrad which is to the south of the City, head up to the North West of the city centre; don't worry, it'll take about 10 minutes on the metro from Vysehrad to Florenc. We're heading for the suburb of Zizkov, specifically Zizkov Hill.
This hill was the site of a battle in 1420 when a vastly outnumbered Czech-Protestant Hussite army, under the leadership of the one-eyed General Jan Zizka trashed the papal army sent against them. You can climb up the hill (passing another military museum, this one covering the 20th century, complete with a tank sitting outside it). On top of the hill is an ugly-looking monument that was previously used to house the bodies of Czechoslovakia's communist leaders (kind of like Lenin's Mausoleum only with less famous people in it, and you have to hike up a sodding great hill to reach it) and a HUGE statue of General Zizka sitting on a horse. If you're in Prague on November 11th this is where they hold a Remembrance Day parade. There are speeches (helpfully translated into English), marching bands, and, if that's your thing, men (and even women) in uniform.
The real reason for coming here though are the views that you get; as well as the city centre you can have a look at the rocket-shaped TV mast, which towers over everything else in Prague (it was built by the Communists to block signals from the West); for some reason this tower seems to have acquired sculptures of babies climbing up the side (either that or somebody slipped some absinthe into my beer). Few people come up here so you can sit back and contemplate Prague (and how General Zizka won his battle: Sit on top of a nice, steep hill and roll rocks on anyone else who tries to climb it).
PRAGUE:
Basics - Getting There - Getting
Around - Places
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