Perhaps Czech Republic is not the first destination preferred by travelers around the world. In fact, it had never been, and probably it will never be. However, this country, and mainly its capital city, Prague, has been increasing progressively during the last years, and it is currently a destination highly visited thanks to its location in Europe -it is close to other highly visited countries such as Germany- and it is the gate to entering the cultural richness of Eastern Europe. Keep reading below to learn the best landmarks in Prague, Czech Republic, a historical city, and a country full of history.
Image courtesy of Roman Boed at Flickr.com
The Clementinum and the National Library
We are talking here about a place where different expressions of art take place, from architecture to literature, to live music. Considered as one of the largest collections of historic buildings in Europe, these charming Baroque buildings are home to the National Library of Czech Republic. Throughout history, the library has had several owners and purposes, religious in particular, but it is currently property of the State, and it has been a library since late 19th century. Also, the Clementinum has a huge collection of more than 6 million books, number that increases continuously due to the fact that they get a copy of every single book published in the Czech Republic. Finally, the Clementinum serves as a venue for various genres of music gigs.
St. Vitus Cathedral
Visiting churches is not an activity limited only for religious people. Actually, visiting churches is not about religion, but rather about discovering ancient architecture and even to get a flashback of the history of a country. The Roman Catholic St. Vitus Cathedral, originally Katedrala St. Vita in the Czech language, is the largest and most important Christian church in the Czech Republic. It is a perfect reason to have a glimpse of this beautiful European country’s development in architecture. It took more than half a century to be completed, leading to a mixture of styles, such as Neo-Gothic, Baroque, as well as the influence of Renaissance. It is extremely recommendable to climb on top of the St. Vitus Cathedral’s 318-feet high main tower to have the best views of the city and get beautiful pictures of it.
Dancing House
The designs of this marvelous building in Czech Republic’s capital by architect Frank Gehry took almost 4 years to be a reality: its construction lasted from 1992 to 1996. It is not a very high building, though, but a café and a restaurant located on the top floors allow amazing views of the city. In addition, the Dancing House of Prague is also called Fred and Ginger, referring to famous American dancers Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, of which the two towers of the construction make think of a woman in skirt leaning on her counterpart, giving the unique effect of an actual dancing scene.
Prague Castle
As many people might know, the current location of Prague was once the Kingdom of Bohemia, but that is a different story. What it is question of this article is the fact that the Prague Castle is the official residence of Czech Republic’s President and one of the most visited landmarks in the country. Featuring a history that dates back to the first century, this castle was built as a walled fortress, and it has suffered several changes in structure and architecture. Indeed, Prague Castle gathers several other buildings inside of its complex, featuring the aforementioned St. Vitus Cathedral among others, that had marked Czech Republic’s famous architecture from the most recent years.
Image courtesy of Miguel Virkkunen Carvalho at Flickr.com
Charles Bridge
A top list of landmarks in Czech Republic without mentioning Charles Bridge would not be very reliable. In fact, the old Charles Bridge is one of the most recognizable landmarks in the history of this incredible destination. With almost seven centuries of existence, this striking bridge offers its half kilometer span to enjoy different points of view and interesting spots, such as old statues, the river Vitava and amazing Gothic gates. Additionally, the marvel of the Charles Bridge uniqueness might be explained by the fact that it was build in perfect alignment with the tomb of St. Vitus as well as with the setting sun of equinox. This last feature definitely convinces anyone to take an hour or two to pass by Charles Bridge when visiting Prague.
Have you visited Prague before? Should other landmarks be on this list? It is now your time to discover Prague with us and let us take you in the deep of this fantastic destination full of history, beautiful architecture, art in all expressions and much more.