Prague, Czech Republic: Part I

Oh Prague... how we love thee! Prague has to be one of the most beautiful cities we've ever seen and is definitely included in our top five places in Europe. The city boasts an assortment of remarkable architecture, ranging from Renaissance, Gothic, and baroque, to neoclassical, cubism, and art nouveau. Looking out over the city we noticed that many spires dot the city in what seem to go on forever. All of these magnificent buildings tell the history of Prague throughout the centuries and made an imprint on us as we visited.

View of the palace from the Charles Bridge.

St. Nicholas Church

One of the many streets with beautiful buildings.

I think the red gives it some pop!

We walked (more like pushed) our way across Prague's famous Charles Bridge. It is a very touristy and crowded spot, and from what I've heard it's like that year round. As we made our way across, dodging other tourists trying to get their pictures and presents from venders, we took notice of the different statues that line the unique bridge.

View from the Charles Bridge

One of the entrances to the Charles Bridge

Statue of John of Nepomuk

You're supposed to rub this for good luck!

View of the Charles Bridge 

We made our way to the Old Town Square where we saw the 500 year old Astronomical Clock and the rest of the Old Town. The streets were filled with sounds of men playing accordions and women singing opera. It's quite a lively place!

Astronomical Clock

Tyn Church

Jan Jus Memorial Statue

Our second day in Prague is what we've termed our "Jewish Day". The Jewish Quarter consists of many historic Jewish buildings and synagogues that have been preserved throughout the years. This includes the Prague Jewish Museum, whose collection only exists because the Nazis gathered objects from 153 Jewish communities in Bohemia and Moravia in order to plan a "museum of an extinct race". We weren't allowed to take pictures in all but one of the synagogues. The Pinkas Synagogue is a memorial to the Holocaust and its walls are inscribed with the names of 77,297 Czech Jews. Next to this synagogue is the Old Jewish Cemetery, which holds 12,000 visible tombstones with as many as 100,000 people buried there (12 layers deep!) dating back to 1439. The cemetery is full to the brim with tombstones, with some right on top of each other, showing partially erased Hebrew inscriptions.

Rabbi Loew's tombstone (Golem legend)

We saw many more synagogues within the Jewish Quarter of Prague. The Old New Synagogue is the oldest still-functioning synagogue in Europe dating back to 1270. We saw the Klaus Synagogue, which contains many items pertaining to the everyday life and customs of Jews. The Maisel Synagogue exhibits old Jewish items. Finally, the Spanish Synagogue, which was built in 1868, is very ornate with old Moorish architecture. We've never seen a synagogue with decor quite like this one and spent a lot of time gazing up at the intricacies and detail. 

Old New Synagogue

The Spanish Synagogue. Taken from The Jewish Museum

Our last stop was the Jerusalem Synagogue, also known as the Jubilee Synagogue, which was built in 1906. While this isn't located within the Jewish Quarter, we're glad that we spent the extra time finding it. Sandwiched between two buildings, the synagogue is very unique with Moorish influences and a variety of patterns and colors.

The Jerusalem Synagogue

To end our stay in Prague we stopped by the John Lennon wall. After his murder, Lennon became a pacifist hero for many Czechs. An image of him was painted on this wall along with Beatles lyrics and political graffiti. The police tried to paint over the wall numerous times, but it became a focus for the youth of Prague who weren't allowed to listen to Western pop music. After 1989 with the fall of communism in the country, visiting tourists began to make their own contributions. It was only a few years ago that the city gave into the inevitable and "allowed" tourists and locals to leave their mark on the wall. Locals state that it never stays the same for long and you should leave your mark while you can.

Within every light colored spot are hundreds of pen written signatures.

Leaving our mark.

We saw and did so much on our trip to Prague that we found it impossible to put it all in one post. Our next post will talk about the Prague Castle, cathedral, and gardens.  Stay tuned!