Prague Travel Guide

On the banks of the Vltava River (Moldavia), rose the most important city in the Czech Republic. Prague, with its extensive history and its special location between east and west, has developed a unique blend of cultures and traditions, which give it an essential harmony and a natural environment is difficult to find in another city in the world.

Each year, to its 1,215,100 inhabitants joined a crowd of visitors who doubled the population of the small capital. Prague is, moreover witnesses of stone, a green city. Especially on the slopes below the castle of Baroque architecture generously joins the construction of palaces with gardens, pavilions, pavilions and arbors. Prague is the city of the fifteen major bridges. Fourteen of them are lying on the River Vltava and one that spans the Nusle Valley.

The bridge's oldest and most valuable is named after its founder Charles IV. And it was built in the year of 1357. The Charles Bridge is the best known tourist path that leads from the historic center of the city to the Prague Castle. One of the most amazing views and to take most wanted pictures of Prague Castle is exactly from the Charles Bridge.

Prague above all, is a living city where there is a considerable amount of theaters, concert halls, exhibition spaces, museums and galleries. The origin of Prague goes back to the Upper Paleolithic, although its first urban settlement took shape in the century X. Then the Slavs built two forts on two opposing hills, in order to control the passage of the Vltava.

Distinguished Prague areas are clearly differentiated, which have been developed around the historic center: the Old City (Staré Město), Malá Strana (Little Quarter), Castle (Hradčany), the New Town (Nové Mesto), and Vysehrad Velká Praha (The Great Prague). It also highlights a distinct identity with the neighborhood Josefov, the Jewish Town, with its synagogues, most belonging to the Jewish Museum and the Old Jewish Cemetery. To Josefov, visitors arrive from all around the world to remember the victims of Nazi persecution.

The Old City has been the scenario of trade and the center of the market since the ninth century. Here you can find, in the Old Town Square, the astronomical clock of the City Hall, one of the jewels of the city. Also the Church of sv. Jakub and one of the most important Gothic buildings in the city, the Temple of Tyn. But undoubtedly the best representatives of this district are its houses, Baroque and Gothic buildings whose facades show the richness of ancient noble families, artisans and merchants. Among them found the house where Frank Kafka resided for many years. Along the streets of the Old City also other famous character strolled, Mozart, which was called the Golden Prague. The Charles Bridge connects the Old City in the neighborhood of the Malá Strana, a beautiful area that stretches to the foot of Prague Castle.

The district was virtually destroyed in 1541, and had to be reconstructed almost completely. In its vicinity many palaces are found, now mostly in diplomatic, and the most visited places are the Church of St. Nicholas, Baroque, and the Church of Our Lady of Victory, where the famous statue of the Infant Jesus of Prague is kept. Hradčany is another neighborhood on the outskirts of Hrad (Castle). Its square is surrounded by palaces, the most important one, the Schwarzenberg, of Renaissance style, today houses the Museum of Military History. Also in the square, the Palace Sternberk has reconverted itself as National Gallery. In this neighborhood is one of the most important places of pilgrimage of the Czech Republic, the Loreto, in which a church, several chapels and other religious buildings are located. The New Town, founded by Charles IV, is home to numerous convents, monasteries, churches and squares. The largest square is Wenceslas Square, where numerous performances and outdoor activities are held.

In this part of Prague, on the banks of the Vltava (Moldau), is the Dancing Building, designed by architect Frank O. Gehry and Vlado Milunic, inspired by the skirt of crystal Ginger Rogers. Near the Old City lies the neighborhood of Vysehrad, which was the seat of Czech princes during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The remains of the fortress have been preserved to this day. Here is the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, one of the most famous of Prague, and Vysehrad Cemetery, where lie more than 600 personalities Czech painters, sculptors, composers and scientists. The ancient monuments that were erected on the outskirts contrast with three cubist buildings constructed between the years 1911 and 1913. Velká Praha, the Great Prague, is a collection of villages that were gradually absorbed by the city as it grew. Some of these small towns of Prague include Brevnov, and Dejvice Smíchov. Thus, Velká Praha is a collection of suburbs increasingly populated, as the city as its capital, attracts a huge number of people from the countryside or other less developed regions.

Some of these neighborhoods are Vinohrady, Vršovice, i KOV, Letná, Holešovice, Dejvice, Smíchov, Brevnov, Liboc, Výstaviště or Barandov. In the Great Prague are beautiful buildings like the Veletr Ní Palace, which contains works from the Narodni Galerie (National Gallery), the French art of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, or Zámek Trojan, Trojan Village, the first of the Baroque Prague, built on the instructions of W. Adalbert Stenberg in 1679, and used as a residence for years by the Czech aristocracy (visit for a fee from 10h to 18h except Monday; visits guided on Saturdays and Sundays; in winter, only on Wednesday and Saturdays). Also the airport of Prague – Ruzyně is located here. The activities that take place in Prague are innumerable, in an extensive programming that can be enjoyed throughout the year. Music, art, culture and entertainment, sporting events, fairs and festivals occur in the Czech capital, a continuous supply that accompanies any visit.

Prague offers annual meetings of different musical styles, such Prague Spring International Music Festival in May, the Classical Music Festival in Prague which is held in concert halls and churches in the city during the month of November, or The International Jazz Festival in October.