Prague old town streets...
Apart from famous monuments, streets of the old
city can offer to visitors many beautiful spots and surprises. The
town with the more than thousand years long history presents a mixture
of different architectural styles in a charming harmony.
The spectacular baroque palaces adjoin elegant renaissance houses
and modest gothic churches. However, the most of the buildings have
been reconstructed in the course of cednturies and so many gothic
churches have a rich baroque paintings inside or a glimpse of the
gothic pointed arch can be seen in the middle of the baroque facade.
One of the purest profane buildings in the Gothic style in Prague
is the house "By the Stone Bell" at Old Town Square. It
was also rebuilt in a baroque style, but the original appearence
was revealed during the renovation in 1980s.
We talked mainly of Gothic and Baroque so far.
The romansque buildings disappeared out of the face of the earth
- literally. The Old Town on the bank of the river was often flooded
and so already during the Middle Ages the terrain level was raised
by several meters in some places. The first floor of romanesque
houses became the basement and was preserved without changes which
affected upper floors. The best preserved romanesque noble palace
is situated in Retezova street. It is called House of Lords of Kunstat
and Podebrady after its later owners. However, many other houses
in the vicinity have romanesque basemets - for example "At
Golden Straw" in Husova Street, "At Three Roses"
or "At the Rotts" in Male namesti square, also the Old
Town Hall.
However, Prague offers many sights not only to visitors interested
in architecture. Old town streets are full of charming localities
and hospitable pubs inviting you to sit down and drink a glass of Czech beer. |
