9. Prague

Situated near the Prague castle, there is GOLDEN LANE. This street is made up of tiny houses with coloured facades. Old legends say that several centuries ago (during the reign of Rudolf II.) royal alchemists lived and worked there and they tried to make gold. Even though they never succeeded, it gave Golden Lane its name. It has an own magical atmosphere. Later, Franz Kafka lived there, in number 22. Today some of the houses were changed to shops.

CHARLES BRIDGE, the second oldest one in Czech Republic (Písek has the first oldest bridge). On the both ends of this bridge there are bridge-towers, each one is different. This bridge was built by Charles IV, when the Judita s bridge was torn down by the flood. This bridge is decorated with 30 statues in Baroque style made by Jan Brokof and Matyáš Brown. It is said that the statue of John Nepomuk make your dreams come true. There is a lot of artists and musicians, stalls with pictures of Prague and stalls with jewellery.

OLD TOWN SQUARE is the oldest square in Prague,we can find there the house At the Stone Bell. In this house the novel The tour of Mr. Brouček to 15th century took place and todays there is placed a part of National gallery. In the centre of Old Town square, there is also monument of John Huss.

The dominant of the Square is the Týn church, where Tycho de Brahe is buried.

Old Town Square is the place where 27 Czech noblemen were executed.

The place, which is most in demand by tourists, is the astronomical clock, which strikes every 60 minutes. It s controlled by a very complicated mechanism built in the middle Ages. Thanks to it, twelve apostles going around beyond two little windows every hour.

The heart of the New Town is WENCESLAS SQUARE, which is the most important square in Prague, but it isn’t the biggest – it’s Charles Sqaure.

At the top of the square there is a bronze equestrian statue of St. Wenceslas made by Czech sculptor J.V.Myslbek. The statue is popular meeting point.

This is a one of favourite place for tourists and that’s why it is so expensive. There is a lot of small cafeterias, fastfoods and restaurants.

The upper end closed the Neo-Rennaissance building of the National Museum. It’s the biggest and oldest Czech museum. There are zoological, archaeological and historical expositions.

Other monument which we shouldn't really forget to visit is THE VYŠEHRAD CASTLE. It s the oldest castle in Prague and it was another seat of the kings. Nearby the Vyšehrad Castle, there is very famous Slavín Cemetery where Czech artists, writers and rich Prague citizens are buried.

LESSER TOWN SQUARE is one of the oldest parts of the city, St. Nicholas Church is there.

You can go down to the JEWISH TOWN. The best known synagogues are the Old-New Synagogue (It was the centre of the Prague Ghetto), it is the oldest and it is used for Jewish worship services, and Pinkas Synagogue. On the walls in this Synagogue, there are names of victims of Nazi terror. Beside it there is a Jewish cemetery with a grave of Rabbi Löw, where you can give a small paper with your secret wish and it will come true. There is also a Jewish museum.