Prague Part Three, West of the River

On the second day we focused on the city west of the river. It was noticeably less touristy - even though the castle is on the other side; there were far fewer signs in English. This is also the hilly side - we got a tram up to the top, and made our way down.

In fact, we started at the Břevnov Monastery, which is a couple of miles out, as there was a fair on.

This in the monastery, the church on the left.


Looking the other way across the courtyard.


There is a brewery in the monastery, the Brewery of St Adalbert. The beer was served from here; I guess it is brewed there too.


Inside the church was very ornate.



Note the monks - this is still a monastery.

But some of the fancy stonework was just painted on!


The fair was just outside - I assume on monastery grounds.



We got the tram back towards the centre, getting off at the castle.


Prague Castle is the biggest ancient castle in world. It is sat on a hill, and has a cathedral in the middle of it. There was a fort, Přemyslid fort, on the site from 870. It is currently the residency of the president, but the grounds and cathedral are open to the public.

This view from the north side shows the cathedral towering over the rest of the castle.


In the courtyard, it does look like palace.


The entrance to St Vitus Cathedral.


The cathedral was started in 1344, though an earlier church was there from 930. It was completed 1929, after nearly six centuries. If you look at this photo of the tower, you can see the top of it is much more modern construction.


Kind of sad that there is a Starbucks here.


To the west of the castle is a fancy plaza. This is the Matthias Gate, which I guess is the grand entrance to the castle.


On the north side of the plaza is the archbishop's palace.


There is a great view of the city from here.


We headed west, following the ridge of the hill, up this street.


To have a drink in this pub.


An alley leads down from the ridge, with another great view of the city.


This takes you down to a road that leads to this attractive square, Malá Strana, with the Holy Trinity Column.


And then Malostranská Square just after.


Looking back up Sněmovní Street, you can see the castle up on the hill again.


Some more attractive views.









 












Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Prague Part One, The River

Image
Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic, and former capital of Bohemia. I was there three days, and it is a fair-sized city, so this is the first of four parts. Other parts are here: Prague Part Two, East of the River Prague Part Three, West of the River Prague Part Four, Getting Around I was lucky enough to get a view of the city as my aeroplane came into the airport. So let us start with the river and its bridges. The Vltava is the longest river in the Czech Republic, and flows generally northwards to join the Elbe at Mělník, which in turn discharges into the North Sea northwest of Hamburg. It is crossed by 18 bridges in Prague. In the image above, you can see four of them. The one at the bottom is the most famous; the Charles Bridge. Above it is the Legion Bridge, then the Jirásek Bridge and at the top the Palacký Bridge. The Charles Bridge is the big tourist attraction, and was packed with people whenever we saw it. This is a view looking east along the bridge. Co...
Read more

Rickmansworth (town centre)

Image
I recently stayed over night in Rickmansworth, a small town in southwest Hertfordshire, known as Ricky to the locals, of whom I was one until the mid-eighties. A short way out of London, it developed after the arrival of the Grand Union Canal, on its way from London to Birmingham. Water has been a big part of Ricky - it is where the Rivers Gade and Chess join the River Colne. At one time there were several paper mills in the area, and in fact one area is called Mill End. When the railway arrived, water cress was an important crop - the railway allowed water cress to be harvested in the morning and in London on people's tables for dinner. Today, the local council is called Three Rivers. We will start with the church of St Mary, an attractive building with a squat tower, built of flint for the most part. Part of a war memorial stands in the grounds - the plinth, but not the statue. The statue depicts a lion mauling an eagle, and was deemed to violent for the church. I am not sure whe...
Read more

Leicester

Image
It was a rather grey- and cold - weekend when I visited the city... Leicester is the largest city in the East Midlands, and eighth largest in England. There was an Anglo- Saxon fort here, and later a Roman fort. The River Soar which flows northwards through the west of the city to meet the Trent. Much of its journey through the city is through industrial - or former industrial areas - but to the north is Abbey Park, where it looks its best. The abbey that gives the park it name no longer exists, besides the enclosing wall, seen on the left above. A rather nice bridge leads to what is now a cafe; the abbey was to the right. A statue stands in front of it - just about visible in the photo - of Cardinal Wolsey who died in the Abbey on his way to York. Abbey park is Leicester's premier park, and has a number of interesting features including the friendship garden... ...and a lot of geese. It is bounded on the southeast by the canal. Much of the river from Leicester onwards was made nav...
Read more