29 Jul 2015. <CZ> Prague —
Basically, today we went up and explored the Prague Castle precinct. This is not a small ask — Prague Castle is the largest ancient castle in the world (according to the Guinness Book of Records, and who would argue with that!?)
But on the way up, we called in on a shop we had noted yesterday, and bought
Trdelník, a strange take on a sweet bread cooked over open flames on metal cylinders, then coated with whatever stuff you want — we opted for cinnamon! We have noticed it all through Eastern Europe, but this time we just couldn't resist. Yummy!
We simply went to various parts of the castle in turn, so I'm going to just follow our itinerary. (Some parts had photography bans, but we've tried to provide links for you to follow.)
The main altar is undergoing major restoration work.
This is an old cathedral, but much of its decoration — especially its stained glass and its mosaics — are quite modern. There is a window designed by the Czech Art-Nouveau master
Alphonse Mucha. I couldn't resist pointing you to a site containing his
complete works — it's a treat for the eyes!
The church was built in the first place by St Wenceslas to house the remains of St Vitus, and there is St Vitus' tomb and the Altar of St Vitusin in the walkway behind the main altar, and just beyond it is the tomb of St John of Nepomuk, a most overstated silver affair!
In the southern transept is the St Wenceslas Chapel, unfortunately closed to the public, but we could at least peep in through the doors.
The last chapel in the circuit round the cathedral contains two modern works — a mosaic of the Baptism of Christ, and the magnificent Pentecost Window.
St John of Nepomuk on the exterior of the Cathedral
Panorama of the square to the south of the Cathedral
In here is the
Vladislav Hall, a superb hall large enough to stage medieval tournaments! Its dimensions are truly impressive — 62m long, 16m wide, 13m high. During the devastating fire in 1541, its magnificent stone vaulted ceiling supported the whole weight of the burned-out roof that fell in on it.
Also in the Diet Room of the Old Royal Castle, there are reproductions of the
Bohemian Crown Jewels — the real ones only come out for special occasions!
The Crypt
The organ, behind one of the Romanesque windows
left (or reconstituted) after all the later Baroque embellishments
were intentionally removed.
St George on the outside of the Basilica
By the entrance of the Basilica is a chapel dedicated to — who else? — St John of Nepomuk!
If you don't have a window,
why not paint one on the wall?
Now for a real treat for you folks — Prague Castle has a wonderful website, and in it there is a superb
Prague Castle Virtual Tour — knock yourselves out!
One way of getting round town is in a classic car!
We finally left the Castle and made our way back to the tram home. On the way, we passed lots of interesting little shops. One had an interesting type of chocolate on sale!
While in the Czech Republic,
Warren has found a fine drop,
which he has been enjoying each night!
The pavements in Prague are all cobblestones, but they take advantsge of this to create mosaic-like patterns with he stones. We were half expecting zebra crossings to be done in the same way, but were sadly disappointed!
It was getting late, dark — and wet! The rain that had held off all day finally arrived. We leave you with this shot of Suzie as she made her way home.
Fortunately, with electricity to the van, it was a simple thing to get everything dry for tomorrow!
Distance driven — today, nil; to date, 24,619 miles ( 39,621 km )
