Church of St. Cyril & St. Methodius. Part1 and other Prague, Czech Republic Things to Do Tips

Operation Anthropoid was the codename given by the British SOE to assassinate Reyhard Heydrich. It was designed to show that the top Nazis were not untouchable. The Czech soldiers were trained in the UK and were flown out from Tangmere by a Handley Page Halifax on 28th December 1941. There was a long wait until an opportunity presented itself when details of Heydrich’s itinerary were obtained..It was known that on 27th May 1942 Heydrich would be driven from his home in Panenské Břežany to his office at Prague Castle. It was planned that 2 men Gabcík and Kubis would wait at a tram stop near the Bulovka hospital. There is a sharp bend at this location and the car would have to slow down. A third man, Valcik was positioned 100 metres before the bend to signal to the other 2 men. When the car slowed down for the bend Gabcik stepped out with a modified sten gun but the gun jammed. Heydrich made his driver Klein stop the car intending to shoot at the 2 men. This present another opportunity and Kubis threw a modified grenade which went off by the car mortally wounding Heydrich and injuring Kubis. Heydrich was taken to the Bulovka hospital but died from his injuries on 4th June 1942. A massive manhunt took place for the parachutists but they were betrayed by two of their own Karel Curda and Vilem Gerik who accepted money from the Gestapo. Eventually 7 parachutists were traced to the Church of St Cyril and Methodius where a gun battle took place over 14 hours where the parachutists either died from their injuries or killed themselves. Curda and Gerik were caught after the war, tried for treason and executed. The aftermath of the attack on Heydrich cost 5,000 lives and the destruction of the villages of Lidice and Ležáky. There is now a small museum in the crypt of the church where the bullet holes can still be seen in the walls and the attempts by the parachutists to dig their way out into the sewers. The museum has an excellent exhibition with English translations that covers a critical part of the history of WW2.

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Phone: 224 92 06 86
Address: Praha 1, Resslova 9

This Orthodox church was built in honour of St. Cyril and St Methodius, the men responsible for the Slavonic alphabet. However, most people know about this church because of what happened here on the morning of June 18, 1942 when the Nazis discovered, acting on information from a traitor, that the seven Czech parachutists involved in the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich were hiding in the crypt. The west side of Karlovo náměstí was cordoned off by 800 troops from the SS and the Gestapo. Three of the soldiers died as the SS stormed the church. The remaining four fought on from the crypt and tried to dig their way out. After hours of shooting and a long stand-off which led to the Germans deciding to literally flush them out using the fire brigade, they used their last bullets on each other. The bullet-scarred exterior wall holds a plaque in honour of their bravery, there is also a museum and the crypt.

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Phone: 224 92 06 86
Address: Praha 1, Resslova 9

The location of the Prague Metronome was once the sight of an enormous statue of Josef Stalin. The statue was unveiled on 1st May 1955 and was the largest in the world. Fortunes change and Stalin was later denounced by Nikita Khrushchev and the statue was blown up in 1962 leaving the hugh concrete base. The 75 foot tall red Metronome which was designed by David Cerny and was erected in 1991 to replace it. It has a commanding view of Prague as it ticks away backwards and forwards and it can be reached by walking across the Stefaniku Bridge from the city centre. The underneath of the base was at one time used as a nuclear bunker for the communist elite. The Metronome which is situated in Letna Park is used as a meeting place for the young and skate- boarders who practice their skills on the smooth surface. The down side to the place is it looks rundown with broken beer bottles scattered around, having said that there are always people around during the day and its perfectly safe, the situation could be slightly different after dark.

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Address: Letna Park
Directions: Walk across the Stefaniku Bridge from the city centre its hard to miss.
Website: http://www.radio.cz/en/article/77593

In most capitals, television transmitters are consigned to out of the way places, not so in Prague where this construction is location in the Zizkov district. Work started on Prague’s tallest landmark at 216m, in 1985 and was completed in 1992. It has a viewing platform at 93m giving spectacular views of the city and on a clear day it boasts views of up to 100kms. There are information boards pointing out the various landmarks that can be seen from the different windows. There is a restaurant at 63m whose main attraction is of course the views, though there is a comprehensive menu. The outside has some unusual sculptures of babies crawling up the tower. For the best views chose a clear day, a camera is essential and binoculars if you have them.
Before work started numerous sites were considered but this location was chosen as it met all the necessary requirements. Though no debate was allowed at the time it was not a popular decision. The site was a former Jewish cemetery and an old working class district. After the velvet revolution work was halted for 18 months while tests were carried out to establish if it posed a health risk because of the electromagnetic emissions.

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Phone: +420 242 418 778
Address: TOWER PRAHA a.s. Mahlerovy sady 1, Praha 3
Directions: Follow the directions from the website map.
Website: http://www.tower.cz/english/english.htm
Other Contact: info@tower.cz

I went out to Aeronautical Museum on a wet day and arrived just before it should have opened. As the minutes ticked away I became slightly worried that the museum was not going to open. Eventually myself and the other visitor managed to attract someone’s attention who informed us it was our lucky day and let us in for nothing. The museum was founded in 1968 on the first air force base that was built in the new Czechoslovakia in 1918. Some of the aircraft are under cover and the rest outside. The collection contains well known aircraft such as the Spitfire, ME 262, Jak 23, Northrop Tiger, Phantom Mk II and a MIG 23.

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Phone: +420 220 204 913
Address: Airport Kbely, Mladoboleslavska Street, Praha 9
Directions: Take the Metro to CeskomoravskA then the 185 or 278 bus to Letecke Museum
The museum is open: 1 May-31 Oct 10am-6pm, Tue-Sun and closed on Monday
Website: www.militarymuseum.cz

They say that on a clear day you can see nearly 100kms from the viewing platform.

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Directions: View the website for directions.
Website: www.tower.cz

The Nuselsky Most or Nusle Bridge, crosses the Nusle Valley and connects the districts of Pankrac and Karlov. It was opened in 1973 and is a huge structure built from 20,000 cubic metres of reinforced concrete, half a kilometre long and up to 40 metres tall. It carries 6 lanes of traffic as well as a metro line. Unfortunately it has had a sad history. It is rumoured it was built wide to facilitate a speedy advance of soviet tanks to put down any revolution during the communist era. After it was built lumps of concrete would regularly fall from the bridge. It is also known as the ‘Suicide Bridge’ as several hundred people have fallen from the bridge despite the erection of fences and nets to catch people. The bridge was designed to carry Swedish Trains on the metro line but Russian Trains were used instead. The Russian Trains were larger and twice as heavy causing structural damage to the bridge. Platforms had to be rebuilt and the bridge reinforced.

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Address: Nuselsky Most

Though it is called a Square it is in fact a tree lined sloping street that is visited by millions of tourists each year. When the new town was founded by Charles IV it became the home of various markets and the street was formed. In the 19th century a national revival took place and with the arrival of the statue of St Wenceslas the area was renamed Wenceslas Square. It is a street 750m long and 60m wide lined with shops, hotels and kiosks on both side with an area to walk along the centre. It has been a natural gathering place over the years and can easily hold 400,000 people. Unfortunately it also has a more seedy side of a night time.

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Address: Vaclavske namesti
Directions: Metro line C station Narodni muzeum or line A station Mustek.
Website: http://www.vaclavak.cz/

The Charles Bridge connects the Old Town with Mala Strana and is the most well known of Prague’s Bridges. The bridge was a replacement of a wooden bridge that was swept away in 1342 and took more than 60 years to complete. The bridge has a length of 520 metres and has 16 arches. The bridge has 30+ statues and the first one was erected in 1683 and they have gradually been added over the years and old ones replaced. The bridge was closed to motor traffic in 1950. Being one of the most popular tourist sites in Prague day & night, the bridge is usually packed by 9am and you have to run the gauntlet of street traders, buskers and pick pockets.

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Address: Karluv most
Directions: Connecting Old Town and Lesser Town

I always enjoy a visit to the zoo and the Prague Zoo is one that is well worth a visit. The zoo was founded in 1931 and is on the site of a former hillside vineyard. The floods of 2002 caused extensive damage to the zoo and everything had to be reconstructed with great support from the public. For those with children it’s easy to spend the whole day wandering around this well laid out zoo. One of the enclosures that impressed me was the one containing the mountain goats, it looks a real challenge for the goats. The zoo is opened daily from 0900 hrs but the closing time varies depending upon the time of the year. A slightly different way to travel to the zoo is by boat via the Prague – Troja service.

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Phone: (++420) 296 112 111
Address: Troja
Directions: There is a map on the zoo's website that gives directions.
Website: http://www.zoopraha.cz/