Today we are off to explore the Klementinum and the Prague Castle.
Note: some of these photos are Erin's.
But first, some interesting street art.
The Klementinum is a historic complex of buildings. It used to house the National, University, and Technical Libraries. It started as a chapel dedicated to St. Clement in the 11th century. In the 1500s a Dominican monastery was founded and the complex was turned into a Jesuit college in 1556. In 1773 the Klementinum was established as an observatory.
This is the Latin Gospel Book of King Vratislav II and is from the late 11th century.
It is believed to have been given to him at his coronation on June 15th 1085.
No photos were allowed of the remaining Baroque library hall, but here's a photo of a photo of it.
Dustin, Dan, and I standing around waiting to see the library.
Various observing equipment.
Farther up the tower we saw more observation equipment.
We were allowed to climb up to the top of the observation tower. It has great views of the city.
Woo Erin and Dustin!
Prague castle.
We were there!
Prague castle through the open shutters.
Dan got some lovely panoramas.
A guide to the skyline.
Spires, and towers, and domes! Oh my!
Some of the old and steep stairs we climbed up and down to get to the good views.
A cartoon of the Klementinum. As you can see it's a mess of buildings.
We climbed up into that domed bit at the back.
Chimney cakes!
We walked across the Charles Bridge and up the hill to the Prague Castle complex.
Fancy castle gates.
The statue on the right looks like it's trying to stab people as they come through the gate.
The Prague Castle complex has its beginnings in the 9th century.
Prague Castle is the largest ancient castle in the world. It covers almost 70,000 square feet.
Inside the castle walls is a MASSIVE cathedral.
St. Vitus Cathedral in fact.
You'd think this would be St. Vitus, but you'd be wrong. This is St. George.
Big shiny...window?
It's a Gothic cathedral. You can tell by all the Gothic spires. Goths are traditionally prickly.
This portal was completed during the reign of Charles IV in 1371.
It depicts the Last Judgement.
More on the cathedral later, but now we're going into the castle-y bits.
It's only a model.....
The castle was occupied by the Luxembourgs from 1310 until 1437. Yes, they still have their own country. It's just smaller and farther to the West than Bohemia (western Czech Republic).
In the late 1400s Vladislav II started to rebuild the castle after the Hussite Wars and years of being empty had damaged it.
And like many things in Europe, the castle was home to the Habsburgs from 1526-1918.
This is Vladislav Hall. It was built in the late 1400s under Vladislav II's reign by Benedikt Rejt.
It was used for state functions and sometimes jousts.
I liked the ceiling designs and chandeliers. They make a flower!
A lion....I think.
I like these weird ceiling designs.
But they also annoy me because they don't line up.
Not a bad view from a castle window.
That's the Charles Bridge.
More castle, more views.
This is the Diet (DEE-it). It was built in 1541 after a fire destroyed the original.
It was mostly used for the Supreme Provincial Court.
You think this is a series of portraits of royal/important people, and that may not be incorrect. However, it's actually a series of portraits depicting a relay race. If you look, the guy on the left is handing the baton to the guy on the right, and the lady is waiting for it to be handed to her.
The Land Rolls were the official books of the Court of Justice of the Realm.
The Court of the Justice of the Realm dates back to the reign of Premysl Otakar II (1253-1278).
Originally, the Court of Justice decided on cases of property disputes, libel, and homicide.
The walls and ceilings are covered with the coats of arms and names of the highest officials from the Bohemian Kingdom and Land Roll Authority.
The wall and the coats of arms below. I don't speak old Czech, so.....you're on your own.
Or you could look at this handy-dandy chart:
I like this one. It's a chicken!
Enter the Royal Bohemian Chancery and their record keeping.
A fancy wooden door.
The crown jewels normally reside here, but are currently on loan to another castle.
I'm sorry, your jewels are in another castle!
Leaving the old castle and now onto the cathedral!
St. Vitus is a Roman Catholic cathedral.
It is the largest church in the country.
The origins of the church were founded in 930 by Wenceslas I.
I was unable to figure out who this statue is of. Probably a saint. Maybe of silly gestures.
St. Vitus has some amazing stained glass and we were lucky to be there at a time when the sun was coming through the windows. From the West entrance and going down the left-hand side:
The Barton-Dobeniín Chapel.
The family donated money to the construction of the cathedral.
The Schwarzenberg Chapel. A wealthy Czech family.
The New Archbishop's Chapel.
This window was created by Mucha for the millennium jubilee of St. Vitus in 1930.
It depicts St. Vitus as a boy with his grandmother St. Ludmilla surrounded by images from the lives of Saints Cyril and Methodius who brought Christianity to the Slavs.
The Old Treasury and a really neat staircase.
Wohlmut's Gallery and Organ Choir.
A fancy pulpit.
St. Sigmund's Chapel.
This is the Lady Chapel or the Trinity Chapel.
It's behind the altar.
The altar windows. Vitus was chose as the dedication saint because Wenceslas I had acquired a relic of St. Vitus, his arm. Relics are weird. They will never not be weird.
And now we're heading back along the other wall.
Uh...I'm not sure which chapel this is from, but it's one of the ones in the behind the altar.
This is the Tomb of St. John of Nepomuk.
St. John of Nepomuk is a Bohemian saint. He was the confessor of the Queen of Bohemia. He was martyred because he refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional.
The Royal Oratory.
St. Wenceslas's Chapel.
This houses the relics of St. Wenceslas. It was built between 1344 and 1364.
This is the Royal Mausoleum.
This is the inside of the Golden Gate aka the mosaic on the outside that depicts the Last Judgement.
The Prague City crest.
The Organ Choir from the other side.
Thun Chapel. Also a wealthy family.
Chapel of the Holy Sepulcher aka the body of Christ.
St. Ludmila's Chapel. Ludmila lived 860 to 921.
The cathedral's rose window.
And here are some other neat things but I don't remember where they go.
Another beautiful stained-glass window.
A relief carving of the city.
An obelisk of some sort.
Another city crest.
Praying is always easier with mittens.
This modern stained-glass.
The light from the stained-glass shining on this mosaic is beautiful.
A decorated door.
Another decorated door.
A lion!
The cathedral cross.
Again, the cathedral is massive.
You can take a virtual tour of St. Vitus here.
And now, the Basilica of St. George.
St. George's was originally built in 973 and rebuilt in 1142.
It has a really unique crucifix.
And this super creepy statue called Statue of Brigita.
A floor plan of the basilica.
And what's an old church without a set of bones. I'm not sure whose bones these are though.
Onto the Golden Lane. It was originally built in the 16th century to house the kings guards.
 |  |
Dan apparently has one of these poses from college. I don't remember which, so here's both.
Erin is too tall for the doorway...and all of us.
A hall of armor. Most of it is from the 1450s to the 1600s.
Possibly the most terrifying looking chicken outfit from the 1500s.
For when you have a joust at 3 and a banquet at 6.
Dustin seems really amused to have balls in his hand.
So many tiny houses! Franz Kafka lived in number 22.
The Charles Bridge and the Czech flag.
Erin is amused by the shiny penis. Apparently a lot of people touch it.
Are you sick of photos of the city yet?
I hope not, because here's another one!
The girl in the garden.
This is the memorial to the Second resistance movement against the Nazi aggression and occupation during WWII.
Dan thinks he's being funny by taking a photo of me taking photos.
More of the picturesque Charles Bridge.
We're on a bridge!
EU, Czech Republic, and Prague flags.
An add for Summer Film School.
Pretty flowers!
A better photo of the Church of the Mother of God before Tyn.
A small protest going on in one of the squares.
Joannes Marcus Marci was a Bohemian doctor and scientist in the early 1600s.
There's a crater on the moon named after him.
And around this corner is a creepy statue.
Dan was pleased with his ridiculous ice cream, milkshake, candy explosion thing.
