| Page Views: 2,729 Last Visit to Prague: - | Prague - Czech Republic by al_mary - last update: Feb 27, 2006 |
Prague, in Czech: Praha, is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic.
Situated on the Vltava river in central Bohemia.
Nicknames for Prague have included "city of a hundred spires",
"the golden city", "the Left Bank of the Nineties", the "mother of cities",
and "the heart of Europe". Since 1992, the historic center of Prague has
been included in the UNESCO list of world heritage sites.
Founded in the latter part of the 9th century, Prague soon became the seat
of the kings of Bohemia, some of whom also reigned as emperors of the
Holy Roman Empire in later times.
The city flourished during the 14th century reign of Charles IV, who ordered
the building of the New Town, the Charles Bridge, Saint Vitus Cathedral, the
oldest gothic cathedral in central Europe which is actually inside the Castle,
and the Charles University: the oldest university in central Europe.
Prague was then the third-largest city in Europe.
For centuries, Prague was a multiethnic city with an important Czech, German
and, a mostly Yiddish and/or German speaking Jewish population.
From 1939, when the country was occupied by Nazi Germany, and during
World War II, most Jews either fled the city or were killed in the Holocaust.
The German population, which had formed the majority of the city's
inhabitants till the 19th century, was expelled in the aftermath of the war.
"Old Town Prague"
Mentioned in 1091, it is the oldest of the towns of Prague
gained the privileges of a town in the 13th century. However,
its name dates back to the 14th century when the New Town
was founded.
The centre of the Old Town has always been the Old Town Square
dominated by the Church of Our Lady of Tyn and the Town Hall ......
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|  | The Boroughs
The four independent boroughs that
had formerly constituted Prague were
eventually proclaimed a single city in 1784.
** Those Four Cities Were **
Hradcany, the Castle District
west and north of the Castle
Lesser Quarter
Malc Strana, south of the Castle
Old Town
Stare Mesto, on the east bank opposite
the Castle
New Town
Nove Mesto, further south and east
The city underwent further expansion with
the annexation of Josefov in 1850 and
Vysehrad in 1883, and at the beginning of
1922, another 37 municipalities were then
incorporated into the area ......
Click On Photo To Enlarge
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Sights To See
** Sights **
There are lots of old buildings, many with
beautiful murals on them. It contains one
of the world's most pristine and varied
collections of architecture, from Art Nouveau
to Baroque, Renaissance, Cubist, Gothic,
Neo-Classical and ultra-modern.
Some of its many tourist attractions are:
* Old Town - Stare Mesto
* Various places connected to Franz Kafka
* Lesser Quarter - Mala Strana
* Prague Castle - the largest castle in the world
with its St. Vitus Cathedral
* The Charles Bridge
* The Lennon Wall
* Old Town Square - Astronomical Clock
* Josefov - The Old Jewish Quarter
* Wenceslas Square
* National Museum
* Vysehrad Castle
* Petrinska Rozhledna
An observation tower, which is nearly a
1:5 copy of Eiffel Tower
* Zizkov television tower with observation deck
* Zizkov cemetery, location of Franz Kafka's grave
* the Metronome
A giant, functional metronome that looms over the city
* The Dancing House - Fred and Ginger
Click On Photo To Enlarge
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| In A Nutshell: | "A Must See Historical City" |
al_mary's Prague Travel Tips
 Comments for al_mary about Prague | | | | |
nigelw6443 Thu Nov 30, 2006 16:09 UTC
Good tips! The hotel was just perfect! Nigel | barryg23 Wed Jun 14, 2006 08:15 UTC
Very nice Prague page. Your hotel looks like a bargain. I am hoping to return and see more of the city later this year. | Zajem Sun Apr 16, 2006 18:09 UTC
Very nice pages about the capital of my country!!!Greetings from Czech Republic. | gilabrand Mon Feb 27, 2006 06:39 UTC
I disagree about that clock being a must-see. It may be free but it's a silly waste of time to stand there in a crowd looking at a clock that you can hardly make out from a distance. But that hotel certainly sounds good. |
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