Dad-Daughter European Trip: Prague | The Magnificent Charles Bridge
Continuing with my series of photographs (finally!) from the most epic European dad-daughter trip of (probably?) our lifetime –
29 days from December 2023 to January 2024 via planes, trains and automobiles.
In my last post, we arrived in Prague from Brussels and after checking out the Christmas markets, we strolled over to the Charles Bridge, one of Prague’s most visited attractions.
Charles Bridge (Karlův most) is a 14th century stone bridge linking the two sides of Prague. This magnificent structure, one of the city’s finest attractions, lies on the main pedestrian route connecting the Old Town with the Lesser Town and Prague Castle. The wide expanse of the Vltava River flows beneath it, flanked on both sides by elegant buildings. On the bridge, you are truly in the center of the city.
King Charles IV commissioned the bridge. The foundation stone was laid in 1357. Charles IV’s favorite architect and builder, Peter Parler, a German-Bohemian architect and sculptor from the Parler family of master builders, oversaw the majority of the work. The 1,693 foot-long bridge was the only means of crossing the river Vltava until 1841.
The initial idea was to build a functional construction for knight tournaments (yeah, that really was a thing!), and for many years the only decoration on the bridge was a simple crucifix. Later, the Catholic desire for ornamentation resulted in 30 statues being erected between 1600 and 1800.
Saint John of Nepomuk
There are now 75 statues on Charles Bridge, but most are replicas, as floods and catastrophes over the centuries damaged the originals. One of the most popular statues along the Charles Bridge is that of Saint John of Nepomuk (photographed above), the 14th century court priest of King Wenceslas IV. John was killed at the behest of the king. You see, John was the confessor of the queen of Bohemia and refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional to the king, who suspected that his wife had a lover.
John endured torture by the king’s soldiers yet refused to speak, ultimately being killed and his body thrown into the Vltava river. The bronze statue, designed by baroque-era sculptor Jan Brokoff, was installed in 1683 and is considered the oldest statue on the bridge.
A plaque further down the bridge features a five-starred halo above Saint John of Nepomuk’s head. According to legend, five stars appeared in the sky above the spot where Saint John was thrown off the bridge after refusing to reveal the secrets of the Queen.
Legend also has it that if you put one finger on each of the five stars and make a wish, your wish will come true within one year and one day, as long as you keep it a secret. Alas, one year later and despite not telling a soul about my wish, there isn’t a billion dollars in my bank account nor do I have hair resembling that of Brad Pitt’s. I call shenanigans!
Across the Charles Bridge
The views from the bridge are pretty wonderful…
Malá Strana
On the other side of the Charles Bridge lies the Lesser Town (Malá Strana) and the Prague Castle area (more on that in a future post). We stopped here to get a rest and ended up eating a pretty damn good pepperoni pizza at what looked like a corner dive bar.
Back To Old Town
As the sun began to set and the temperatures began to drop considerably, we made our way back across the bridge to the Old Town…
Needless to say, it would be remiss for anyone to visit Prague and not take a stroll over the Charles Bridge. But, of course, nobody reading this post would ever think of doing such a thing, right?
We’ll be back with more from this charming city in the next post.
SUBSCRIBE HERE to not miss it!
