A Stroll across Charles Bridge

No visit to Prague is complete without a stroll across Charles Bridge (Karlův most), and yet, somehow, except for a few mentions here and there, I have written 50+ posts over the past 18 months *without* devoting one to this extraordinary Prague landmark. With spring making its presence known in Prague, which means the warm weather tourists can't be far behind, this seemed like a good time to rectify that oversight.

The old world fantasy of Charles Bridge...

The modern reality.

Prague is a city roughly bisected by the Vlatava, and for centuries, and there has been a bridge in the location where Charles Bridge now stands for almost 900 years. The original stone bridge there, Judith Bridge, was built in 1172, but it was destroyed by a flood in 1342, shortly before Charles IV took the throne of Bohemia (along with several others). Charles, as part of his massive infrastructure investment in Prague, commissioned a new bridge. According to legend, Charles himself laid the first stone at 5:31 am on the 9th of July, 1357. Why the random time? Because, when written out, (year 1357, 9th day, 7th month, 5:31 am), the date/time is a palindrome (135797531), and Charles, a believer in numerology, believed the number would serve as a sort of metaphysical "bridge" which would reinforce the stone. True or not, the project was initially overseen by Peter Parler (who designed St. Vitus' Cathedral), and the bridge was at last completed in 1402, 45 years later.

For centuries, indeed until 1870, Charles Bridge was known simply as the Stone Bridge, or just Prague Bridge--because it was the only bridge over the Vlatava until 1841. In 1870, during the Czech revivalist movement, the bridge was given its current name. 

Yikes! The bridge after severe flooding in 1890.

During those 400 years, the bridge was damaged by floods--a large portion of the bridge was destroyed by a flood in September 1890--and battles. In 1648, during the Thirty Years' War, the Swedish army, having captured the Mala strana (Lesser Town) on the west bank of the river, tried to cross the bridge to take the rest of the city. The Old Town Bridge Tower (about more below) was manned by students from the nearby Jesuit college, who held off the Swedes. Still, despite all this, the bridge endured, whether due to luck, good craftsmanship, or Charles' numerological insight.

Those are halos--not propellers.

The statues lining either side of the bridge, giving it its distinctive appearance, were actually never intended by its original designers. As with many of the Catholic-themed additions to Prague, they were created during the Baroque Period, starting after the Thirty Years' War, as part of the Hapsburg re-Catholicization of Bohemia. Fun fact: all of the statues are now replicas; the originals were removed in the 1960s and have been in the National Museum's Lapidarium ever since.

This woman is doing the right. The one behind her, less so.

The most visited and best-known statue on the bridge is St. John of Nepomuk. Good St. John will get his own post another time, but suffice it to say he was a Catholic martyr, thrown off the bridge in 1393 under orders from King Wenceslaus IV--not exactly the good king. There are many versions about *why* he was murdered--again, we'll cover that another time--but, due to the manner and location of his death, he became associated with bridges, rivers, floods, and the city of Prague.

On the right, the image of the martyred saint. On the left, a dog.

One of the many legends around Prague and Charles Bridge is that, for good luck and to guarantee you returned to Prague one day, visitors should rub an image on the relief at the base of St. John's statue. However, there is some confusion about *what* you're supposed to rub: the ''real' legend, which makes sense, is that, like a pilgrim would, you should rub the image on the right side, which shows John being thrown into the river. On the left side, there is a dog, and some people seem to think you should rub the dog--for...reasons. There are some later stories about why the dog matters (having to do with symbolism and whatnot), but it seems more likely this is just a mistake that has taken hold. Oops.

One either end, the entrance to the bridge is guarded by a tower. On the Old Town side...

Yes, Prague really looks like this.

...and on the Lesser Town side.

And this.

The towers are worthy a discussion of their own some day (so many teases for future posts!), but no discussion of the bridge would be complete without them. Both are open to the public, and you can climb to the top for truly unique views.

The view from the top of the Old Town Tower. Not advisable for those afraid of heights. Or stairs.

The bridge was used for all traffic--horses, cars, trams, and buses--all the way up until the 1960s, when it underwent a large reconstruction and renovation process. Since then, the bridge has been closed to all non-pedestrian traffic, and now it's almost purely a tourist destination. Lined with artists and artisans trying to catch the eye of the hundreds of tourists who come by every day, the bridge is almost never not crowded, let alone empty. As such, most locals avoid the bridge, and I have only been there a few times since I got a job and started trying to live like a Praguer. But, when the sun is shining, and the river is blue, standing in the middle of Charles Bridge, in the liminal space between the two halves of this ancient city--it's still a hell of a thing.

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