Old City Walking Tour!
I've completed my TEFL course, lined up a job (I'll need another or some private students, but all in good time), and I have a few days of down time this week. As I was in the Old City (Staré Mĕsto in Czech) anyway, I decided to take advantage of the situation and finally get some pictures for the blog. I am not the world's best photographer, but I hope you enjoy this nonetheless.
Just a few blocks from where I started was this sculpture:
Installed in 2014, this is a statue of the head of Franz Kafka by sculptor David Černý. Though certainly the greatest Czech writer who ever lived and a resident of Prague nearly all his life, Kafka actually wrote in German. He did speak Czech, however, and was clearly inspired by the great city in many of his works. But this isn't just a traditional statue...
Though much of kinetic sculpture feels like movement for movement's sake (not a bad thing, per se), this is an excellent way to capture both the image and the spirit of the great writer. In Kafka's works, everything is askew, sometimes downright nightmarish. The constant movement his face undergoes, resulting, most of the time, in a distorted image is very fitting. The fact that the statue is reflective, showing us distorted images of ourselves, is doubly so.
Next I walked by a coffee shop who sign was too good not to photograph.
"Fucking strong coffee," indeed. For the record, I am more of a tea drinker.
Just up the street is the Church of St. Martin in the Wall (kostel svatého Martina ve zdi), originally built around 1180 in the Romanesque Style. Not long after, the smal town the church was part of was cut in half by the city walls--the church was inside these walls (long gone now), and literally abutted them. Hence, the phrase "in the Wall" was added to its name. However, the current building is largely Gothic, having been worked on from around 1350-1490. There were also additions in the Baroque era and after. It's an important church in Prague/Bohemian/Czech history but its location, relative simplicity, and limited visting hours keep it off the main tourist paths.
Narrow streets winding who knows where, lots of cobblestones, and never knowing whether or not cars are allowed...welcome to the Old City!
Literally so tucked away in the city streets that I had to borrow this picture of it is the Church of St. Giles (kostel sv. jiljí). Honestly, I had no idea that's what it looked like, because it's impossible to get the view it's so buried.
The curch was, again, orginally Romanesque in style. In 1650, however, it was given to the Dominicans, and it was completely remodeled in the Baroque style. It has remained in the hands of the Dominicans to the present day, and the interiors, including frescoes by leading Czech Baroque painter Wenzel Reiner, are as stunning 500 years later as they must have been when new.
This is a place that photography cannot capture. I have visited twice, each time too briefly, and I want to return and absorb every detail. Again, there are almost nightly concerts of classical music here, but mass is also celebrated most days. Incidentally, this is the second place in Prague I have visited and posted about that was used as a filming location for Milos Forman's Amadeus, one of my favorite films since I was a child. St. Giles was used for the scene where Mozart marries his wife, and the gate his body is taken through to be buried at the end is Leopold's Gate at Vyšherad (see the video I posted a few weeks back).
Another short walk away is Malé náměstí (literally "little square"), featuring at its little center a beautifully ornate public well from the 16th century.
Between the well and the main square (Staroměstské náměstí or "Old City Square"--a lot of náměstí action in Prague) is another náměstí (see?), Náměstí Franze Kafky, another honor to Kafka. Amusingly enough, the plague there to him, showing a screaming distorted face, currently looks like this
Covered up in a plywood box, all the while, screaming underneath. How fitting.
Just steps away, though, is Staroměstské náměstí, the heart of Prague as UNESCO World Heritage site.
What you see in that video are the medieval Town Hall (Staroměstské radnice, undergoing restoration work) with its famous astrological clock (Pražský orloj), the Church of St. Nicholas (Chrám svatého Mikuláše), the monument to Jan Huss of the Hussites ( Pomník mistra Jana Husa), the National Gallery - Kinsky Palace ( Národní galerie - Palác Kinských) and the Church of Our Lady Before Týn (Chrám Matky Boží před Týnem). The rest will receive their own, fuller posts later, but I did stop into the Church of St. Nicolas.
Originally a Gothic church that was rebuilt in the early 1700s in the Baroque style, St. Nicholas seems to have had a difficult relationship with Catholic hierarchy for a long time. It was in the hands of the Benedectines when this version was built, but it passed into the hands of Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church at some point before becoming the seat of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church in 1920. This connection to not one but two separate Czech based religions gives the church a somewhat nationalistic feel.
Yet again, this church features classic concerts many nights of the week. Once I have some money svaed up, you better believe I'm doing a different one every night of the week and writing about it.
Just off the Old Town Square is this building, featuring excellent examples of sgraffito, a decorative technique wherein two layers of contrasting colors of material are layered on a surface, and then a design is scratched into the upper layer, revealing the underlying color. You can't really tell from this picture, but the dark gray has been scratched through to creatre the beige images all over the building. The technique was very ppular during the Renaissance in Italy and spread north from there by the 16th century. This example seems to date from that period, and other examples can be found around Prague from similarly dated buildings.
Our last stop on (this) tour is a brief pause outside the Estates Theater (Stavovské divadlo), an Enlightenment era theater that remains almost exactly as it was when it was built. In fact, it's so authentic it, too, was used in Amadeus...
It's especially fitting that the Don Giovanni scene was filmed in that theater because Don Giovanni, sometimes called the greatest opera ever written, was performed for the first time at the Estates Theater in October 1787. Mozart was well-regarded in Prague (unlike Vienna), so he chose Prague to debut his new work. He debuted several new operas in Prague, often at the Estates, and the theater is the last one standing in the world in which Mozart conducted. In honor of this huge place in music history, the theater has erected a statue...of the Commandatore's ghost come to drag Don Giovanni to Hell.
Just a few blocks from where I started was this sculpture:
Installed in 2014, this is a statue of the head of Franz Kafka by sculptor David Černý. Though certainly the greatest Czech writer who ever lived and a resident of Prague nearly all his life, Kafka actually wrote in German. He did speak Czech, however, and was clearly inspired by the great city in many of his works. But this isn't just a traditional statue...
Next I walked by a coffee shop who sign was too good not to photograph.
"Fucking strong coffee," indeed. For the record, I am more of a tea drinker.
Just up the street is the Church of St. Martin in the Wall (kostel svatého Martina ve zdi), originally built around 1180 in the Romanesque Style. Not long after, the smal town the church was part of was cut in half by the city walls--the church was inside these walls (long gone now), and literally abutted them. Hence, the phrase "in the Wall" was added to its name. However, the current building is largely Gothic, having been worked on from around 1350-1490. There were also additions in the Baroque era and after. It's an important church in Prague/Bohemian/Czech history but its location, relative simplicity, and limited visting hours keep it off the main tourist paths.
Like many Prague churches, St. Martin in the Wall now hosts man regular concerts of classic music. I can't wait to start sampling those.
From there, I wandered through the streets, generally aiming for the center of the Old City. To give you a feel for how that looks, I took this.
Narrow streets winding who knows where, lots of cobblestones, and never knowing whether or not cars are allowed...welcome to the Old City!
Literally so tucked away in the city streets that I had to borrow this picture of it is the Church of St. Giles (kostel sv. jiljí). Honestly, I had no idea that's what it looked like, because it's impossible to get the view it's so buried.
The curch was, again, orginally Romanesque in style. In 1650, however, it was given to the Dominicans, and it was completely remodeled in the Baroque style. It has remained in the hands of the Dominicans to the present day, and the interiors, including frescoes by leading Czech Baroque painter Wenzel Reiner, are as stunning 500 years later as they must have been when new.
Another short walk away is Malé náměstí (literally "little square"), featuring at its little center a beautifully ornate public well from the 16th century.
Between the well and the main square (Staroměstské náměstí or "Old City Square"--a lot of náměstí action in Prague) is another náměstí (see?), Náměstí Franze Kafky, another honor to Kafka. Amusingly enough, the plague there to him, showing a screaming distorted face, currently looks like this
Covered up in a plywood box, all the while, screaming underneath. How fitting.
Just steps away, though, is Staroměstské náměstí, the heart of Prague as UNESCO World Heritage site.
What you see in that video are the medieval Town Hall (Staroměstské radnice, undergoing restoration work) with its famous astrological clock (Pražský orloj), the Church of St. Nicholas (Chrám svatého Mikuláše), the monument to Jan Huss of the Hussites ( Pomník mistra Jana Husa), the National Gallery - Kinsky Palace ( Národní galerie - Palác Kinských) and the Church of Our Lady Before Týn (Chrám Matky Boží před Týnem). The rest will receive their own, fuller posts later, but I did stop into the Church of St. Nicolas.
Originally a Gothic church that was rebuilt in the early 1700s in the Baroque style, St. Nicholas seems to have had a difficult relationship with Catholic hierarchy for a long time. It was in the hands of the Benedectines when this version was built, but it passed into the hands of Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church at some point before becoming the seat of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church in 1920. This connection to not one but two separate Czech based religions gives the church a somewhat nationalistic feel.
Václav I, Duke of Boehmia (aka Good King Wenceslas--yes, that one) --
Patron Saint of the Czech State
Yet again, this church features classic concerts many nights of the week. Once I have some money svaed up, you better believe I'm doing a different one every night of the week and writing about it.
Just off the Old Town Square is this building, featuring excellent examples of sgraffito, a decorative technique wherein two layers of contrasting colors of material are layered on a surface, and then a design is scratched into the upper layer, revealing the underlying color. You can't really tell from this picture, but the dark gray has been scratched through to creatre the beige images all over the building. The technique was very ppular during the Renaissance in Italy and spread north from there by the 16th century. This example seems to date from that period, and other examples can be found around Prague from similarly dated buildings.
Our last stop on (this) tour is a brief pause outside the Estates Theater (Stavovské divadlo), an Enlightenment era theater that remains almost exactly as it was when it was built. In fact, it's so authentic it, too, was used in Amadeus...
It's especially fitting that the Don Giovanni scene was filmed in that theater because Don Giovanni, sometimes called the greatest opera ever written, was performed for the first time at the Estates Theater in October 1787. Mozart was well-regarded in Prague (unlike Vienna), so he chose Prague to debut his new work. He debuted several new operas in Prague, often at the Estates, and the theater is the last one standing in the world in which Mozart conducted. In honor of this huge place in music history, the theater has erected a statue...of the Commandatore's ghost come to drag Don Giovanni to Hell.
I hope you've enjoyed this brief glimpse of what this remarkable city has to offer. If you have, please share this post! Spread the word! And if you haven't signed up yet, check out my Patreon at www.patreon.com/sjcaustenite.
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