Thur August 27th to Sun August 30th Prague

In other blogs we talked about the Prague Castle and our day trip to Cesky Krulov.  In this post, we will talk about the rest of our time in Prague.  We spent a lot of time in the Prague Square, an area full of street performers and sidewalk restaurants.  We ate there a couple of evenings and really enjoyed the food and great atmosphere.

In the square is the Prague astronomical clock.  The clock was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still working.  The oldest parts, the mechanical clock and astronomical dial, dates back to 1410 when it was made by clockmakers Mikulas of Kadan and Jan Sindel, the latter a professor of mathematics and astronomy. Later, presumably around 1490, the calendar dial was added and clock facade was decorated with gothic sculptures.

In 1629 or 1659 wooden statues were added, and figures of the Apostles were added after major repair in 1787-1791. During the next major repair in years 1865-1866 the golden figure of a crowing rooster was added.

The four figures flanking the clock are set in motion at the hour, these represent four things that were despised at the time of the clock's making. From left to right in the photographs, the first is Vanity, represented by a figure admiring himself in a mirror. Next, the miser holding a bag of gold represents greed or usury. Across the clock stands Death, a skeleton that strikes the time upon the hour. Finally, the Turk tells pleasure and entertainment. On the hour, the skeleton rings the bell and immediately all other figures shake their heads, side to side, signifying their unreadiness "to go."  There is also a presentation of statues of the Apostles at the doorways above the clock, with all twelve presented every hour.

On our last day in Prague, we went by subway to the Museum in the Crypt of the St. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral.  The existing structure had its origins as a Roman Catholic church built between 1730 and 1736.  In 1942 a group of free Czech and Slovak patriots, in operation Anthropoid, assassinated German General Reinhard Heydrich who ruled the city brutally.  This set off a massive search for the assassins and a reprisal that may have killed as many as 5,000 citizens.   The patriots hideout in the church crypt was eventually discovered.  There was an intense firefight, and at one point the Germans had the fire department flood the crypt with water.  Eventually the Patriots committed suicide, versus being captured.   We saw part of a movie that is being filmed in the city while we were there, and it may be part of a new move about operation Anthropoid.  The following pictures show the crypt and the bullet riddled window to the crypt.

We then went by street car to the Alphonse Mucha Museum.   Mucha became particularly famous for his Art Nouveau posters.  He created advertising art for Sarah Bernhart that she like so much she had him do all her advertising posters.  He was a strong advocate for the reinstitution of a Slav homeland, creating a Slav struggle series of paintings.   He saw the creation of a free Czechoslovak after world War I.   At the start of World War II the Germans invaded, and he was questioned by the SS, as clearly his ideas ran counter to theirs. They saw Czechoslovakia as just an annexed part of Germany.  He died shortly thereafter, so fortunately he did not see the difficult period to follow with both the German and Russian occupations.

We then took a tour of underground Prague.   The city kept flooding, so eventually they raised the streets about a story high.  Over 100 years, what had been street level, became a series of underground tunnels and rooms.

We ended the day visiting the Wax Museum, with a few of our closest friends.

It is here that we bid farewell to our tour group.  Many are returning home and several are scattering to more travel adventures.  This group has been the friendliest group we have traveled with and we enjoyed being with everyone.  After a day in Prague on our own we are off to Poland.  We loved Prague in spite of the heat!