Let us invite you for a tour from the Charles bridge to Old town. On this short trip we will describe buildings as well as history of the city and Old Town. The pictures will be added shortly.

From Old Town Square to Charles Bridge
The histories of Old Town (Stare Mesto) and its Square (Staromestske namesti) are closely interrelated. Much of our knowledge of the city in its earliest days is based on a document written by Ibrahim Ibn Jacon an emissary of the Caliph of Cordoba. He stayed in Prague druing 965 to 966. His journey has inspired him to write about it, during which he came to realize that the city was an important center of commercial exchange. The opening of the city to the west and the development of commerce encouraged Sobeslav I(1125 - 1140) to play more active role in commercial Courtyard (Ungelt) behind the Church of Our Lady.

Aiming for municipal status.
in 1230, Old Town acquired the status of a town, but it was not entitled to have a Town Hall, the decisive symbol of city freedom. It was not for another hundred years, in 1338, that John of Luxemburg granted the right to ercet a Town Hall in Old Town Square. As the town's political center, the square established itself as the economic andsocial epicenter, and it was inhabited by the wealthiest families.

Historic events
Down through the centuries, Old Town Square has been the scene of momentous and bloody events:
After the victory on November 8, 1620, Ferdinand II sent twenty-seven noble and bouregois rebels to the scafold (the deed is today marked by a rectangle of black stones); then, twelve heads were hung on the tower on Charles Bridge for ten long years, and were not buried until 1631, by the Lutheran Saxons occupying Prague. On May 8-9, 1945, the partisans fought a battle here to liberate the city from the Nazis, and then on February 21, 1948, Klement Gottwald proclaimed the victory of Soviet Communism from the balcony of Kinsky Palace. In a previous time, the Palace had housed the German-language Imperial High School attended by the German-Speaking intelligentsia, notably Max Brod and Kafka. By 1968, the square had come to be known as "Hyde Park" and was soon the favorite venue for student meetings. Today, more people meet up and go for walks here than in Wenceslas Square or any other square in Prague.

Old Town Square (Staromestske namesti)
is the very of the city. It also contains some of the finest examples of Prague's artistic riches; indeed, no other part of the city can boast such an extraordinary collection of architectural styles and periods.

Tyn Church
This is probably one of the most important churches in Prague, beside the St. Vitus Cathedral. There was a church in Tyn Courtyard as early as the 12th century, which belonged to the hospice of foreign merchants. In 1220, a new church was built in the early Gothic style, but this was rebuilt after 1380. The roof was not added until 1457, ad the north pediment not made until the reign of George of Podebrady (1458 - 1471). Opposite the church stand Tyn School and The House "At the sign of the White unicorn".

Saint Nicholas' Church
The first church built here dates back to the 12th century. Then, in the 13th century, Germans merchant erected a gothic church which was to be the largest in Stare Mesto until the Church of Our Lady was built; it also served as the town's seat of administration until Stare Mesto was granted a Town Hall. In the 17th century, St Nicholas' (Kostel Svateho Mikulase) became the monastery church ot the Emmaus Benedictines before being secularized under Joseph II. Today, it belongs to the Czech Hussite Church. St. Nicholas' has been rebuilt several times, most recently in 1732 - 1737. Until the end of WWII, the south side was concealed by "Krenn" House, and this explains the powerful appearance of that part of the building. The external plastic decoration is by Anton Braun, who revealed a renewed interest in Rococo elegance. The plans for the church, as it has survived to present day, are by Kilian Ignac Dientzenhofer (1689 - 1751), by far the most important and most active of Bohemia's Baroque architects. St. Nicholas' may well have the most beautiful church interior in Prague. It is impressively sculpted. Such extraordinary complexity of design is quite unique. The high point of the decoration is Pater Asam's cupola fresco depicting the Life of Saint Nicholas and scenes from the Old Testament.

Old Town's former Town Hall
an ancient building. The complex of buildings that now make up the Former Town Hall accumulated only gradually. In 1338, the municipality purchased Wolflin House on the corner, adding a belfry in door, which is the main entrance, dates from the era of Vladislav II Jagiello, as does the window in the vestibule, while the surround of carved figures and floral decoration are fine example of the genius of the stonemanson Matej Rejsek. Over the years, various houses have been added, including Kriz House (House of the Cross) with its lovely Renaissance window and Baroque railing decorated with the inscription Praga caput regni. Cock house, connected to Mikes House, was integrated into the Town Hall in 1835. The House fo the Minute with its early 17th-century sgraffito, was the last to be aded, in 1896, and the Kafka family lived there. Later, the main development was to the north wing, when offices were added. These were destroyed during the World War Two. The early 15th century astronomical clock dominates the facade. Part of the building is open to public include the vestibule, the Old Council Chamber and the meeting room.

Male Namesti (Little Square) and neigbourhood
The center of the square if marked by a well dating from 1560, and decorated with a Renaissance railing surmounted in the 17th century by a gilt Lion of Bohemia.

The House of Two Golden Bears
The house "Of the two Golden Bears" (U dvou zlatych medvedu), a short walk from the Old Town square in Kozna Street, has one of the most beautiful Renaissance doors in Prague.

Rott House
The house was commissioned by the Rott steel company and the facade is covered with representations of the various tools made in its factories. Other motifs include allegories of skilled artisans and agriculture. The decoration was executed by Mikolas Ales. It is still one of the foremost hardware shops in Prague and visitors can look inside the shop, which dates from 1922-3, and admire the glass dome that covers the old interior courtyard.

Charles Street (Karlova Ulice) and the Royal Route of Kings
Karlova street starts off at Jilska Street and ends at Cross and Red star Square (Krizovnicke namesti), forming a direct link between Charles Bridge and Old Town Square via Small Square. It consist of three sections which protrude slightly one in front of the other. The street used to be a part of famouse "Royal route" or also called "Coronation Route" followed by the kings of Bohemia when they were to be crowned at Saint Vitus' cathedral. The route started at Powder Tower, continued through Celetna Street, Old Town Square, Karlova Street, Charles Bridge, Mostecka street, Mala Strana Square, an lastly, Nerudova street. Many of the gothic houses, including nos. 175/3, 156 ,147, 452 and 451 which were renovated in the Baroque style, have preserved their Romanesque basements. Karlova ulice runs alongside the Clementinum, providing one of the many means of access to this building, and borders directly on the Italian Chapel and St Clement's Church. During the 16th and 17th centuries, it was known as Jesuit Street (Jezovitska ulice). One of the most beautiful Renaissance houses can be found with number 175/3: The House of The Golden Well. Also the first café in Prague was opened at number 181/18: The House of the Golden Snake. From 1607 to 1612, Kepler lived at number 188/4, a Renaissance building known as the House "Of the Crown of France", it was here that he wrote The New Astronomy, setting out the laws that bear his name.

Clam-Gallas Palace
Clam-Gallas palace is at 20 Husova Street on the corner of Marianske namesti and Karlova Street. It is one of the most important buildings that the Viennese architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach produced for Prague. The irregular groundplan is that of a bulding with several wings encircling two courtyards. The interior staircase is one of the most beautiful in the city, and Santin Bossi executed the stucco decoration in the hall. Since 1945, this palace has house city archives.

Old Town's New Town Hall
After passing the splendid Clam-Gallas Palace, enter Marianske Square with the Clementinum on the left, the municipal Library (Frantisek Roith, 1924 - 1928) opposite and on the right, Old Town's New Town Hall built by Karel Osvald Polivka between 1905 and 1912. It comprises a subtle blend of neo-Baroque and Secessionists elements. The decoration on the facade was the work of three of the greatest sculptors of the age: Stanislav Sucharda, Ladislav Saloun nad Josef Maratka.

The Clementinum
The Jesuit Clementinum is an enormous complex built over the course of more than a century, between the end of the 16 century and 1726. It stands on site not only of a former Dominican Monastery given to the Jesuits when they arrived in Prague in 1556, but also of three churches and over thirty houses. It has three entrances: two are main entrances, one of them giving onto Krizovnicke namesti and the other Marianske Square. The Jesuites entrusted the task of building their first college in Prague to Francesco Caratti. Today, it is the site of the National Library and two museums: Mathematics and Tcho de Brahes'.

The building consisted of four central wings organizesd around four interiorcourtyards with an observation tower where they intersected, In the first courtyard, there is a statue if a Student by Josef Max, erected in memory of student who defended Prague against Swedish army in 1648.

Libraries: At the far end of this first courtyard is the former Jesuit College, now the National LibraryIn 1773, following the abolition of the Society of Jesus, the building were handed over to the Observatory and the Academy of Fine Arts and then, from 1800 onward, to Charles univeristy. In 1924, the building began to be converted to house the National Library; these premises are also occupied by the University library and Slav Library, known as the "Baroque Hall", is decorated with frescos representing the arts and sciences. In the center there is a remarkable trompe l'oeil by Johann Hiebl (1727); the Mozart Room in the wing that overlooks Platnerska Street boasts elaborate Rococo ornamentation; the summer refectory is now a lecture rooml; the second courtyard has a Baroque fountain, and the Observatory tower, which is surmounted by statue of Atlas.