A Prague autumn

What is the best time to visit Prague?   I have no idea, but we had a wonderful five days in late October autumn.  The city, being so old, is very compact;  walking is easy and interesting.

  The Church of Adam and Eve

The Church of Adam and Eve in Stare Mesto (the old town)

  The two towers of this church are called Adam and Eve. The yellow buildings in front of the church actually touch the church, and so one can only enter the church through a small side door. Our hotel was only two blocks from the church so we frequently saw it.  From the back it looks almost like Hogwarts:

Silhouette of the the towers of the Church of Adam and Eve.

InterestingWalking

Marionettes are one of Prague’s souvenirs, and Irene ended up taking home a Pinocchio.

Demonstrating how “easy” it is to make Pinocchio walk.

Everywhere you look there is something of interest:

Best friends

Prague Town Hall

Prague has enjoyed many artistic styles.  The most recent is Art Nouveau.  Here is the town  hall–which included a cafe.  The guidebook told us to stop for a coffee and pastry, and not to miss the toilets!

Prague town hall

Prague Town Hall cafe — well worth a look

 Alphonse Mucha

There is museum dedicated to Alphonse Mucha (24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), a leading artist in his day.  No photography allowed, so here are some pictures from the web.  Much of his work was work was in the form of advertising posters; like this for Job cigarettes.

Mucha poster for Job cigarettes (note the lady’s hair swirls like the cigarette smoke.)

His images are still a source of inspiration:

2010 Austrian stamp featuring Mucha’s painting of Sarah Bernhardt

A Mucha-inspired tattoo

When the German invaded Czechoslovakia during the spring of 1939, Mucha was among the first to be arrested by the Gestapo. During his interrogation, he became ill with pneumonia, and died soon after he was released.

 Prague Astronomical Tower

This clock tower, with the world’s oldest working astronomical clock (1410) is across the square from the Church of Adam and Eve.  Every hour a crowd gathers, the clock strikes, figures move, and real live uniformed humans at the top deliver a trumpet call.

Prague lock tower by night

Two figures looking out o the little windows above the two dials of the clock.  Below one sees the massed tourists.

Closer view

The very top of the tower.  The trumpeteers appear in the turrets.

 The Jewish Quarter in Prague

There are two outstanding attractions in the Jewish quarter.  The  Holocaust memorial and attached  Jewish Cemetery and the fantastically ornate Spanish synagogue.

As always, the Jewish quarter was very crowded.  Here we see graves one on top of another, up to 12 layers deep.  The setting is a shady walled enclosure.

Prague’s Old Jewish Cemetery

The Spanish Synagogue is in the Moorish Revival style, and hence the name.  The intriguing, though bland exterior

in no way prepares you for the interior, completely covered in rich gold, green, red, blue and black decoration.

Spanish Synagogue – view of upper gallery and ceiling from lower level

Spansish Synagogue — front where Torah Scrolls are kept–there is no “altar”.

Spanish Synagogue — looking straight yup at a skylight.  The suspended lights form one of many stars of David.

detail showing unusual pattersn.

Just outside the Spanish Synagogue is a statue of Franz Kafka

 The Cathedral of St Vitus — Prague

The cathedral and castle are on the opposite side of the Charles river from the center of town and the areas above.   Here are a few pictures taken on the way

Gateway protecting the Charles Bridge — for centuries bridge across the Charles River.

Here are two view of St. Vitus from the Charles Bridge.

One of the many statues on the bridge.

The cathedral is still quite a walk from here — we took a taxi, and were greeted by a buskers

and the whole of the South side

The West entrance is like many other cathedrals:

The central panes of the Much window

the lower part of the same window

An unusual stained glass window.  It’s not the result of a shaky hand–it is really like this.  I do not recall the story behind it unfortunately.

There were numerous details like this:

The nave

A view of the multitude of spires on the cathedral

The cathedral is inside the grounds of Prague Castle.  Here is a a garret window in a near by building