The streets of the old town in Prague are a red carpet of imposing medieval beauties. And despite the hordes of selfie sticks and thousands of avid tourists, you’ll find a carefree atmosphere in the air inviting relaxation and free flow wandering.
It’s hard to imagine that this cheerful and vivacious city has gone, in the last hundred years alone, through a declaration of independence, nazi occupation, a repressive communist dictatorship and a pacific transition to democracy!
Everything breaths old history in Prague. The settlement in the margins of the Vltava river started as early as the Palaeolithic, and the imposing Prague Castle goes back to the 9th century, a solid fortification against attacking enemies.
In the 14th century, when Charles IV reigned, Prague was the third largest city in Europe, and saw unparalleled growth. It was a rich commercial city that attracted many merchants, bankers and influent families, with a thriving Jewish community. Testament to that period are the Charles IV bridge – uniting both margins of the Vltava – the Charles University and the St. Vitus Cathedral, all symbolising the desire for knowledge (or for fervent religious inspiration).
After a period of intense turmoil, the 16th century saw Prague emerging again as a city of lights and knowledge, under the rule of the Habsburg. Astronomers and mathematicians like Johannes Kepler and John Dee lived here, sharing their knowledge with painters and writers. It was a time of poets and quants!
In the following two centuries the city endured wars, plagues and major fires, but reached the 18th century as an important European hub, fuelled by the advent of the industrial revolution and the rich coal mines nearby.
The end of the First World War and the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire led to the creation of Czechoslovakia, with Prague as the capital and the Prague Castle as the seat of the president. By then Prague was a multi ethnic city, with large Czech, German and Jew populations fuelling a melting pot of traditions. This would change dramatically with Hitler’s invasion in 1939, when the majority of the Jewish population was deported or killed.
Liberation came by the hands of the Russian Red Army. But the liberators soon became oppressors, puppeteering a communist dictatorship that ended only in 1989, with the fall of the Berlin wall. The velvet revolution invaded the streets of Prague, celebrating Czechoslovakia’s newborn freedom.
Czechoslovakia lasted till 1993, when Czechs and Slovaks amicably decided to split the country. In 2004 both Czech Republic and Slovakia entered the European Union, together with several other Eastern European countries.
I’ll leave you with a final interesting bit of trivia (who knows, it might be the winning play in your next game of Trivial Pursuit): most countries have two names, a short one and a formal one (for instance, my home country is commonly known as ‘Portugal’, but its formal name is ‘Portuguese Republic’). Until very recently, Czech Republic had no short name, but one was just approved: ‘Czechia’. Dating back to the 17th century, the name never caught real traction, despite being freely used by some international press. Choosing it for the country’s official short name was not an uneventful decision, with many Czechs arguing against the “weirdness of the name”, “similarities with Chechnya”, “similarities with Tschechei, a derogatory name given by the nazis to the region”, and the fact that “it excludes from the name part of the Czech Republic territories – Moravia and Silesia”, among others.
See you soon!
Jules*
The Lennon Wall shots were my favourite.
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Some of my favourites too, thanks for reading Mani 🙂
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LOVE the black & white shots interspersed throughout this post! They show such neat perspectives of architectural features. Well done!
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Thank you! I wasn’t a big fan of black & white till I bought a wide angle lens, now I think it’s a great way to accentuate perspectives. Hope you’re enjoying Peru, it’s one of my favorite South American countries!
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I definitely am. 😁 Seeing your architectural photos has me longing to travel to another big city soon. Keep on inspiring…
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Very nice photos! actually what a coincidence as I saw a promo airfare to Prague earlier and I am tempted to book it for us for November holiday… but of course need to be approved first haha! Wish!
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Thanks Vinneve! Prague is definitely worth a visit! Good luck with your planning and let us know if you need some tips 🙂
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We are in the process of planning a trip to Europe next year and have been oscillating between including Prague (and Vienna and Salzburg), which will mean going flat out or taking a slower pace but seeing less – your photos have just about convinced me that going hard and seeing more is probably the better option 🙂
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Hi Keren!
Wish you an amazing trip to Europe. Let us know if you need any tips. Prague is definitely a good addition 🙂
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Beautifully done!!!
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Thank you Tracy! 🙂
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Nice work, but … you have missed the pinguins https://stevevanhoyweghen.wordpress.com/2015/04/30/czech-republic-prague-yellow-penguin-invasion-of-the-historic-charles-bridge/
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Ahah, that’s a pity! We’ll need to go back when the weather is more suitable for pinguin spotting 🙂
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Great shots. Makes me want to get back to Prague and look a bit closer next time.
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Thank you Neil! Great shots on your blog too, Czech Republic’s nature parks seem incredible!
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You can find great information about name CZECHIA here http://www.radio.cz/en/section/letter/from-bohemia-to-czechia and a smal comment to the Tschechei, this is a regular word as Türkei or Slowakein, any term used by the nazis would get a negative spin. This is the reason for choosing Tschechien as the German translation more myths and facts at http://www.goczechia.com
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Thanks Václav! I’ve already updated the text accordingly 🙂 Is Basel still treating you well? All the best!
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Stunning images! I’ll be back for more.
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Thank you Norman! Last week I hiked the Fishermen’s Trail, a route in southern Portugal that passes through some of the places you cycled. I think you’ll enjoy those images 🙂
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I wanna dance wid dat house!
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This is a great work about Prague. Good photos!
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Thank you for reading and for your kind words, Joachim!
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Who told you that Silesia is a part of Czech Republic teritory?
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Thank you for reading Anna. That’s a quote from the ‘Go Czechia’ movement, I believe they are referring to the Czech part of Silesia, not the Polish or German ones.
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So you should visit Wrocław here on Polish Silesia – is also a stunning town! 🙂
You know, sometimes I hear very weird myths about Silesia!
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We should indeed! So far we only know Kraków and Warsaw, we need to expand on that 🙂
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A very interesting read. I hope I can get to visit Prague one day. It’s a beautiful city!
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Thank you for reading! Prague is indeed a beautiful city. It’s one of the few places in Eastern Europe we have visited so far, but we plan to change that!
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Old is good. I’ve been to Prague, I have loved it. Back in the 1990’s. Thrilling old city, historically full. Loved the cathedrals and King Wenceslaus’ tomb. The food was great, the visit too short.
I love reading your posts. You bring these places to life with your stories, and the simple charm of seeking beauty where others are seeking trinkets! Best wishes to you, Jules & Verne! Keep it up!
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These stories and photographs are all the mementos we need from these trips. I think we would write them even if nobody else read them, but hearing feedback such as yours exponentially increases the joy we get out of it. Thank you!
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Great! Love the photos. Prague is on my bucket list!
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Thanks for reading Benn. Hope you make it to Prague, it’s indeed worthwhile!
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Absolutely beautiful post and web site. My wife and I have a visit to Prague on our “bucket list”. Many thanks also for taking a look at my site. Take care. Bob
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Thank you so much!You should definitely go to Prague, it is an outstanding city. If possible just try to avoid August 🙂 It was still an amazing trip, but we would have appreciated a bit more calm and peace!
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Mas que grande lição de História que nos dás, Jules! E belas fotos, também! Destaco a escada em caracol, o túnel de Dear Moat, a escultura da Powder Tower… Ah, duas fotos fabulosas, a Dancing House e a praça ao pé! Dentro do preto e branco. Nas fotos a cores, gostei muito da vista sobre o rio Vltava – e, especialmente bonita, a do “boy” que gosta de eléctricos e comboios!
Pois, também quero ir a Praga, e não me vou esquecer de fazer bolas de sabão e de tomar um “delicious coffee and cake”, algures na Wenceslas Square! 🙂
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Também gostámos muito, tanto a Jules como o “boy” que gosta de comboios 🙂 Conhecemos pouco da Europa de Leste, temos que explorar mais esta área!
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Esse boné assenta-te mesmo bem! Em que pensas, “boy” sonhador?
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Nada de muito profundo 🙂 Estava à espera que o eléctrico que aparece na foto do lado se aproximasse!
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Prague is hands down my favourite of the European cities I have visited, so beautiful and historic! I love how you’ve included so much history and so many facts into your post!
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Indeed, it is an amazing city with such an old and interesting story, that it was difficult to let go of that 🙂 I saw in your blog that you are doing a gap year? Let us know if you are keen to come to Lisbon, we would be more than happy to share a few tips! Best of luck for your travels!
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Awesome photography! Nice post too. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you Lisa! Are you in Prague right now?
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No, I am in Berlin, but I was there in early September. I loved it there and will go again.
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Looking forward to your post about Berlin then. I’ve only spent there a couple of days, would love to go back!
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I’ve written about Berlin in several of my earlier posts. You can find them all at http://www.expatadventurerblog.wordpress.com. Since I am living here for a while to come, I still want to check out all of the weekend street markets and alternative tours. If you have a particular venue in Berlin you would like information about please make a suggestion and I will try to check it out if possible. I look forward to reading more about your travels as well.
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What great photographs. I lived in Czechoslovakia during the 1990s and loved it. Your photos brought back wonderful memories. Thank you.
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Hi Lynn, thank you so much! So glad you enjoyed. It must have been quite an experience to have lived there during those years.
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Lovely blog! Prague is one of my fav cities! I wrote about it too 🙂
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Thanks for reading Faria! Indeed, we seem to be hitting the same spots, both Prague and Santorini 🙂
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Great minds think alike! My next one is Mykonos 🙂
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Didn’t go there yet, looking forward to reading about it 🙂
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Thats an amazing travelogue 🙂
Pls go through my blogposts and give me feedback so that i feel motivated to write some interesting ones like you 🙂
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Hi Advaita! So glad you enjoyed 🙂 I don’t think there’s any silver bullet… we usually just write about the things we enjoy and captivate our attention. I guess having fun while doing it is the most important! Good luck with your blog!
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Amazing pictures! Prague is on my list of places to visit, hopefully next year 🙂
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Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂 you should definitely go to Prague, it’s an amazing city.
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Like your article, studied and lived in the capital of Czechia for nine years, really a gem of a city.
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great pictures and very informative – It’s on my list of places to visit and now I know a whole lot more about it!
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“Czechrepublicans” are retarded, Czechia is a correct, timeless geographic name of our country. Czech Republic is only transient political name, which has been changed 8 times in recent century.
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Tremendous effort–great post…
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Thank you! Hard to believe it’s already snowing in Prague, it seems just yesterday we were strolling by the Old Town wearing nothing but a t-shirt!
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Yes I get it. Change comes quickly… 🙂
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You really captured some amazing photos of Prague. It rained half the time I was there and mine were not nearly as good!
I was fortunate enough to have dinner with a group of Czech people and they were totally against it being called Czechia for the same reasons you said – it sounds too similar to Chechyna!
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Thanks for reading Noelle! I made the mistake of reading your Prague food tour before lunch… now I’m starving and don’t have anything nearly as good in the fridge 🙂
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Thank you! Wonderful post! Can’t wait to visit next month 🙂 😀
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Thank you Sarah! I’m sure you’re going to love it… although now I believe it’s painted in snow white 😉 Enjoy your trip!
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