The touch of Prague

Photos Radim Sulc

2 weeks ago, I visited one of the most beautiful capitals in Eastern Europe - Prague.
Prague is situated on the River Vltava in central Bohemia and is home for 1.2 million people. It is a very old town - being the cultural and political centre of Czech for 1100 years and therefore, is full of history.
The old town is very beautiful and I and my colleague Marine enjoyed walking around there.

Astronomical clock
Prague Orloj -the oldest part of the Orloj, the mechanical clock and astronomical dial, dates back to 1410. Later the clock was rebuilt by the master Hanus in 1490 (master Hanus of Ruze perfected the mechanism and in 1552-1560 Klokotská Hora repaired it). The clock is composed of three main components: the astronomical dial, representing the position of the sun and moon in the sky and displaying various astronomical details, ‘The Walk of the Apostles', a clockwork hourly show of figures of the Apostles and other moving sculptures, and a calendar dial with medallions representing the months.
Photo: The astronomical clock

Photo: I and Marina in front of the astronomical clock

Old Town Square

Old Town Square is always full of people - a lot of tourists visit it. The Church of Our Lady before Týn (often called just Týn Church) is a dominant feature of the Old Town Square. It has been the main church of this part of the city since the 14th century. The church's towers are 80 m high and topped by four small spires.

Photo: I in the Old Town Square, the Týn church back.

Photo: I in Prague metro (opened in 1974)

Karlova Bridge

The most wellknown bridge in Prague is called Karluv Most. The building began in 1357 and the Bohemian sandstone was used. The construction took place until the beginning of 15th century.

As the only means of crossing the river Vltava (Moldau), the Karlova Bridge used to be the most important connection between the Old Town, Prague Castle and adjacent areas until 1841.

The bridge is 516 meters long and nearly 10 meters wide. It is protected by three bridge towers, two of them on the Leser Quarter side and the third one on the Old Town side.

Photo: I in Karlova Bridge with the Old Town Bridge Tower (built by Petr Parler).

Photo: Street musicians in Karlova Bridge

Photo: I and Marina

Photo: I on one of the bridges in Prague

Photo: View over Vltava river, tourists boats and Manes Bridge

Photo: View to Hradcany quater

Photo: Something about work, too - Esrel 2009 Conference