ZLATA PRAHA Prague The Golden
Number 22 Golden Lane on Prague's Castle Hill houses a very small library where it is said that alchemists once worked under Rudolf II, Emperor and King of Bohemia. Rudolf II (1552–1612) was the only Hapsburg who made Prague his capital. An eccentric king interested in the occult, he surrounded himself with musicians, scholars, artists and artisans. But there were also more than a few charlatans. If you would like to find out how to turn lead into gold, which Rudolf was trying to do, visit the Museum of Alchemy at the Powder Tower, one of the former gates to the Old Town.
…Prague's Castle Hill has been designated a World Heritage Site…
Rudolf was a connoisseur of art, music and literature. He would have been pleased to know that Czech writer Franz Kafka (born in Prague in 1883) used the little library to work on his novel, The Castle. On his way to this perch on Hradcany Cliff, or Castle Hill, Kafka could look down on the Old Town where he kept an apartment to see dusk spreading its golden sheen over the steeples, belfries and domes of the medieval city.
Prague or Praha is the capital of Czechia, formerly called the Czech Republic. This city of 100 spires is a city for art and architecture buffs. With its heritage of ancient churches, Renaissance palaces and the beautiful setting on both sides of the willow-edged Vltava River it is a very poetic place. Streets of flat-topped cobbles and sidewalks of small granite blocks in mosaic patterns, linden trees, rose arbours, busy sidewalk cafes, open-air markets and sausage kiosks form a backdrop for the constant flow of people.
Prague, which Goethe called “the most precious jewel in a Crown of Cities,” is the heart of Bohemia. After 12 centuries of existence, a labyrinth of medieval streets, Gothic towers and Renaissance spires, Baroque gardens, sumptuous palaces, gilded roofs, turrets and cupolas stretches as far as the eye can see.
The centre of the modern city is Wenceslas Square in the New Town (Nove Mesto). It is just a few blocks from the Central Train Station and not far from the 18th-century Estates Theatre where the world premiere of Mozart's Don Giovanni took place in 1787. Nearby is Na Prikope Street, once a moat which divided the Old Town from the New Town. If you follow Na Prikope to Republic Square, you will find the unique l5th-century gate called the Powder Tower. Along with 12 other gates, it formed part of the Old Town`s early fortifications. This gate marked the start of the Royal Route used by kings and queens as they progressed along the street to Old Town Square, crossed Charles Bridge, went through the Lesser Town, then climbed up to Prague Castle.
During the half day or so it takes to walk through the Castle grounds, you will see the Romanesque and Gothic, represented by the Old Royal Palace where indoor jousting tournaments were once held in Vladislav Hall. You will see Renaissance architecture, represented by the Royal Summer House and the Baroque style in the Prague Castle Riding School. The 19th century is represented by the Imperial Riding School and the
20th century by the west wing of the New Palace.
Prague's Castle Hill has been designated a World Heritage
Site by UNESCO. The complex includes not only the amazing, moat-surrounded castle where the President and his wife live, but also St Vitus Cathedral. The Cathedral is built on the site of a rotunda founded by Prince Wenceslas (circa 925), 50 years after the hill was settled by the Premyslids. In 1060, the rotunda was transformed into a three-aisled Romanesque basilica. It wasn't until the mid-19th century that work on the Cathedral was completed. 1929 saw the last renovations on its façade.
The Bohemian Crown Jewels are housed in a vault in St Vitus Cathedral. This legendary treasure is kept in St Wenceslas Chapel on the site of the original rotunda. The hoard is locked away in what is called the Royal Treasury. Seven locks and keys, held by various church and government institutions, are required to open the vault. Since its beginning, the castle has been the seat of both state and ecclesiastical power.
In the past, cooking was inspired by both Celtic and Slovakian traditions. When Prague became the political and cultural centre of Europe under Charles IV and Rudulph II, Czech cuisine was influenced by artisans and artists, diplomats and the nobility from North, South, East and West. Today's visitors may try everything from garlic or lentil soup to grilled trout, venison, streaky pork South Bohemian style, turkey with chestnut stuffing and beef roll in cream sauce to skubanky (mashed potato balls served with poppy seeds and sugar) to babovka (walnut cake).
Springtime is one of the nicest times to be in Prague because of Prague Spring — not “Socialism with a human face” which was a reform movement that was crushed in the summer of 1968 by Russian tanks, but the Prague International Music Festival.
Any time of the year visitors can hear the baroque carillon melody, “We Greet Thee a Thousand Times” which still rings on the hour from 8 am to 6 pm from the Loreto Chapel on Loretanska Street. This chapel is open daily except Monday from 9 to noon and 1 to 4:30 pm. The exquisite monstrance encrusted with 6,222 diamonds and various gem-studded votive gifts dating from the 17th and 18th centuries are part of the Loreto Treasure. It is definitely worth seeing.
Visitors like to walk in the palace gardens, gaining inspiration from the beautiful trees, peacocks, songbirds and flowers. Another highlight is a stroll past the Church of St Nicholas in Mala Strana (the Lesser Quarter) probably the most remarkable baroque building in Bohemia. Seen from Charles Bridge, the church's imposing cupola and its beautiful bell tower make a handsome contribution to Prague's stunning skyline.
Perhaps surprisingly, below the splendid castle in the old kingdom of Bohemia, at the crossroads of ancient trade routes, in the city which Charles IV made seat of the Holy Roman Empire, are the remains of a ghetto.
There has been a Jewish community in Prague for at least a thousand years. Once a place where Moravian, Silesian and Bohemian Jews aspired to live and work, it is now a muchvisited area in central Prague.
The old Jewish Town Hall is located on Maislova Street in downtown Prague. This is the area known in old chronicles as Josefov, near Prague's famous Old Town Square. Circa 1091, there were two Jewish settlements in this vicinity. Because Kafka was Jewish, he might have headed for a café or pub in the area. Today's visitors often stop at the Franz Kafka Café on the fringe of the old ghetto.
Many also visit what is called The Old Jewish Cemetery. Although it is not the oldest Jewish cemetery in Prague (the oldest known burial ground dates from 1270 and was called the Jewish Garden) it is certainly one of the most memorable Jewish graveyards in the world.
Tourists on walking tours of the Josefov will be stunned by this area's past. It is astonishing that six synagoges survive as well as the Jewish Town Hall and the Old Jewish Cemetery in a city occupied for six years by the Nazis.
In fact, research shows that Hitler's troops carefully preserved the articles they found in the district of the Josefov because Prague was to be the place where “Aryans could come to study the material culture of the people that their fathers had wiped off the face of the earth.”
U Zlateho Tygra (The Golden Tiger Pub) on Husova Street in Prague's Old Town dates back to the 14th century. This is the place to try traditional Czech specialties along with a pint or two of Pilsner Urquell. Some of the greatest Czech writers, including former president, Havel, drop in to quench their thirst here. Bohemian appetizers to try include tlacenka (head cheese), pickled sausage, “smelly” cheese from Olomouc, and herring. Main dishes might be pork schnitzel or roast beef in a potato jacket with cabbage salad, coleslaw style.
Excellent Czech food at moderate prices is always available at the Pilsner Restaurant in the basement of the Obecni Dum, the art nouveau masterpiece, recently restored, on Republic Square. And for a noisy evening of people-watching, join the crowd at U Provenice, just off Wenceslas Square for garlic soup, the best goulash in Prague and either a half-litre jug of Budweiser Budvar or a glass of Moravian white wine.
…In the past, cooking was inspired by both Celtic and Slovakian traditions…