Prague: Lesser Town and Prague Castle

So on day 2 in Prague, we visited the other side of Vltava River; where the famous Prague Castle and St Vitus Cathedral are. The Prague Castle was apparently built in the 800s by Prince Bořivoj of the Premyslid Dynasty and it is the largest castle complex in the world. It's a complex, much like a shopping complex, because the surrounding area of the castle has cathedrals, gardens, monasteries, defence towers and other buildings built in different architectural style from the 10th century through Gothic modifications in the 14th century. Prague castle is now the official home of the President of the Czech Republic.

Hardcankske Square Entrance to Castle Complex

The wallpaper on the building almost seems like a 3D effect of some parts of the wall protruding outwards

The compounds of the castle

Honestly, I personally felt that the castle itself was quite boring. Perhaps it was because I didn't do any research on its history but then again, I did not do any research when I visited the Forbidden Palace in Beijing and I liked it so much! Maybe because I'm a Chinese myself? LOL. Prague castle itself was so huge with lots of open spaces and halls (we jokingly called one hall, a badminton court) and there wasn't much information on the information board itself. This castle also houses the Bohemian Crown Jewels, which I felt wasn't anything spectacular.

However, the St Vitus Cathedral was very impressive. It is a Roman Catholic church with Gothic architecture containing the tombs of Bohemian kings and Holy Roman Emperors.

Eerie faces staring down at you

The main entrance

The main entrance with the rose window at the top

The heavy entrance door

The back of the church

The interior architecture and design of the St Vitus Cathedral is amazing. It's a wonder how such talented and smart people exist during those times when little is known about engineering and architecture (take for example, the Egyptians pyramids).

Organ pipes

I especially liked the intricate stained glass windows. We also have those windows in Winthrop Hall in University of Western Australia and it was damaged from the hailstorm we had in March 2010. Repairs of the windows costs a lot so I cannot imagine if anything were to happen to these ones in the cathedral.

See the fine detail?

We also walked along the Golden Lane in the castle complex. The Golden Lane is a row of 11 small houses built in Mannerism style at the end of the 16th century for the castle guards, but then turned into goldsmith workshops. The material used to build the houses were mud, stone and wood. Of the 11 houses, four were of specific interest in Golden Lane. No 20 still maintains the decorations of the house as it would have been in the 16th century; No 13, has kept to the original building regulation to show how the houses were built into the arches of the castle wall. The staircase in No 12 gives access to the Daliborka tower, which is used as a prison and torture chamber and house No 22 was occupied by famous author Franz Kafka from 1916 - 1917. Today, the houses are souvenir shops selling Bohemian Glass and other trinkets to tourists.

I guess what's nice about visiting the castle is that at some spots, there is a good lookout view of Lesser Town where you can find many restaurants, quaint old pubs, small shops. If you look from a hilltop, you can spot many flags hanging down from the old baroque buildings - those are the international embassies.

St Nicholas Church in Lesser Town Square, the landmark of Lesser Town

Walking through Lesser Town

Want to go for a ride?

To get back to the other side of the river, we walked along Charles Bridge.

Lesser Town bridge tower. Remember the Old Town Bridge Tower? Well, this is the similar tower on the other end of Charles Bridge.

The view from Charles Bridge

There are about 30 replicas of baroque statues on the bridge (the originals are in the National Museum), depicting various saints during the era when the bridge was built. Among them is the famous St. John of Nepomuk who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus, King of the Romans and King of Bohemia in 1393 because he didn't want to reveal the Queen's confessions to the King since it would be against his commitment of confidentiality.

Statue of the Trinitarian Order

St. John of Nepomuk

Rumours say that if you rub the bronze plaque (polished because of countless people rubbing) depicting St John being thrown off the bridge, good luck will come and you will one day return to Prague.

But then there was another plaque of a dog and it was well polished too! So being kiasu, all of us rubbed both plaques. Tee hee hee.. :P

But I don't know how to explain this ...

Spot which part is rubbed. Statue at Prague Castle

There were many street artists on Charles Bridge, but I felt this was the best of all.

Don't you think he looks like him??

So that's the end of my Prague story. Up next, Austria - where the hills are alive, with the Sound of Music! :)