the city of 1000 spires
Yes, that would be Praha. Beautiful Prague. 35 degrees out and a zillion tourists, including groups of obnoxious male Brits holding stag party weekends.
It really is a beautiful city. So much beautiful architecture to admire. Theres the huge Prague castle, with a massive gothic cathedral with some of the best stained glass windows I've ever seen, overlooking the city.
And the 13th century Charles Bridge, now just for pedestrians, and people running tacky souvenir carts.
And the Old Town square, with the twin spires of Tyn church, and the astronomical clock.
And so many churches, many gothic churches, which creates the 1000 spires!
My 2 favorite sightseeing experiences here though, were seeing Art Nouveau work and synagogues. a famed artist from around 1900, Alfons Mucha, was from here. So throughout the city, you can see some things he designed, like a stained glass window in the cathedral and the mayor's office in the municipal building.
There's a small museum of his work too - stuff like Sarah Bernhardt posters - which was interesting to see. Lots of great architecture from that time period too - around 1900 , they reconstructed the old Jewish ghetto into a modern urban area - so all the buildings are decorated in that interesting architectural way.
And Prague also holds Europe's oldest synagogue, from the 1200s, and 5 other synagogues as well. This is one of the few places that Hitler did not raze everything Jewish to the ground, because he disgustingly wanted to create in prague a "museum of an exterminated race" . Bizarre, but it did keep these treasures intact. Really interesting to see different tapestries and metal artwork from the Jewish perspective, after always only seeing it in Catholic churches. The Spanish synagogue was my favorite - painted walls, and stained glass, incorporating the Star of David in all the designs. You even can look up - and the chandalier is in the shape of the star.
My overall impression of Prague - I like it, it's a nice city, but I'm not giving it the rave reviews that everyone else seems to. Perhaps it deserved the rave reviews about 10 years ago, but now, since everyone is coming here, commercialism is running rampant, and I think it takes away from the charm and atmosphere of the city.
But....since it's 35 degrees, and Ive fought massive crowds the last few days, im tired. Need to rest up for Dresden tomorrow!
Teresa
It really is a beautiful city. So much beautiful architecture to admire. Theres the huge Prague castle, with a massive gothic cathedral with some of the best stained glass windows I've ever seen, overlooking the city.
And the 13th century Charles Bridge, now just for pedestrians, and people running tacky souvenir carts.
And the Old Town square, with the twin spires of Tyn church, and the astronomical clock.
And so many churches, many gothic churches, which creates the 1000 spires!
My 2 favorite sightseeing experiences here though, were seeing Art Nouveau work and synagogues. a famed artist from around 1900, Alfons Mucha, was from here. So throughout the city, you can see some things he designed, like a stained glass window in the cathedral and the mayor's office in the municipal building.
There's a small museum of his work too - stuff like Sarah Bernhardt posters - which was interesting to see. Lots of great architecture from that time period too - around 1900 , they reconstructed the old Jewish ghetto into a modern urban area - so all the buildings are decorated in that interesting architectural way.
And Prague also holds Europe's oldest synagogue, from the 1200s, and 5 other synagogues as well. This is one of the few places that Hitler did not raze everything Jewish to the ground, because he disgustingly wanted to create in prague a "museum of an exterminated race" . Bizarre, but it did keep these treasures intact. Really interesting to see different tapestries and metal artwork from the Jewish perspective, after always only seeing it in Catholic churches. The Spanish synagogue was my favorite - painted walls, and stained glass, incorporating the Star of David in all the designs. You even can look up - and the chandalier is in the shape of the star.
My overall impression of Prague - I like it, it's a nice city, but I'm not giving it the rave reviews that everyone else seems to. Perhaps it deserved the rave reviews about 10 years ago, but now, since everyone is coming here, commercialism is running rampant, and I think it takes away from the charm and atmosphere of the city.
But....since it's 35 degrees, and Ive fought massive crowds the last few days, im tired. Need to rest up for Dresden tomorrow!
Teresa
posted by Teresa at 9:58 AM
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