The Guinness book of world records lists the Prague Castle is the largest ancient castle in the world engulfing over 753,473 square feet. The history of the castle dates back to 870AD. No i did not forget to put a 1 in front of the date this site dates back 1143 years!!
St Vitus Cathedral founded in 1344
Awesome Gothic construction
Such a beautiful Church
Compared to the churches we visited so far this one is pretty plain if you can even say this is plain.
pulpit
The High Alter
This is the stained glass above the main entry way.
The stained glass is beautiful
The wall fresco's looked very old.
Although we didnt go in, this is the St George Basilica founded in 920 it is the oldest surviving church within the castle walls.
it was pretty cold out
Jonah and I at the old castle wall
A view of Prague through the castle wall port hole.
Although the second set of doors where locked I was able to take these photos, another beautiful High Alter and domed ceiling.
Two of the other alters.
I could stare at these ceilings forever.
Some of the other alters and the pulpit.
St Nicholas' Church in Lesser town square is on of three churches in Prague named St Nicholas Church. It was completed in 1710.
The ceiling fresco are awesome and hard to get a clear pic of
A better pic of the dome over the High Alter.
This alter was to the left of the High Alter
The alter on the right side of the High Alter
Built in 1745-47, the main pipe organ has over 4,000 pipes, some up to 20' in length. Mozart once played the organ during his stay in Prague as a guest of famous composer František Xaver Dušek
The view Jonah and I had from the upper section
Powder Tower or Powder Gate is one of the original 13 city gates dating back to the 11th century
The Charles Bridge tower
Prague's Astronomical clock on the old town city hall was installed in 1410!
It is the third oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest that is still working.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Astronomical_Clock
A better pic of Prague from the castle grounds. You can see the Old Charles Bridge that we walked to which was our halfway point to where we had to meet the bus.
Typical street in Prague, as you can see the buildings are quite different than those in Germany
St Thomas' Church founded in 1228 and rebuilt in 1720, I couldnt find out much history of the church. The most detail info I found was at
The high alter with a huge dome above it. The entire church is composed of polished artificial marble.
They where all painted from 1753-1760 AMAZING!!
Close up of the High Alter, Kim got a weird feeling because Jesus on the Cross is dwarfed by the Bishops all around the alter
Jonah and I went up to the second floor, there was a showing of 10 pieces of artwork on display all painted from 1673-1674
The pipe organ above the entrance
Another one of the ceiling fresco domes
Powder Tower or Powder Gate It was used to store gunpowder during the 17th Century so hence the name. If you look you can see men dressed in period clothing playing brass instruments for the people walking by.
The Charles Bridge crosses the Vltava River, construction started in 1357 and was completed in the early 15th century, its over 2000' long
You can read more about the history of the bridge at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bridge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague_Astronomical_Clock
The back side of Old town city hall.
I hope you liked our rendition of Prague. Let us know what you think. Give us some suggestions on hat to see in Europe as well.
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