Patti & Ken's European Adventure: Prague

The centerpiece of Old Prague is the Old Town City Hall.

The area where the Old Town City Hall sits is the site of the earliest marketplace for the city. In 1338 a private house was purchased and the tower was added in 1364. Over time the Town Hall grew by adding more connecting buildings. It has had many uses throughout the years including the imprisonment of Czech Protestant nobles who were rebelling against Emperor Matthias in 1620. Twenty-seven of them were executed in the Old Town Square in front of the City Hall in 1621. There are crosses in the pavement commemorating the event. At the end of World War II, The Old Town City Hall was the center of rebellion against the Nazis. The German troops shot on the city hall and then set it on fire. The eastern and northern tracts of the building were burnt down.

The tour of the interior starts in the chapel which dates to 1381.

One of the Astronomical Clock features is the parade of the twelve apostles. Each hour as the clock strikes the hour two doors open and carved statues of the twelve apostles rotate past. From inside the tower you can see the mechanism and the statues.

The interior features many areas. As you traverse from house to house you can see them. They are still used for ceremonial assemblies, tours and weddings.

The most important part of the interior is the Council Hall which dates to the 15th century. The walls are lined with crests from the many guilds such as bakers and carpenters. Another feature is the beautifully painted ceiling. It is a very common feature among the rooms. There is a large heating vessel in the corner and the city crests throughout the ages are also displayed.

I fell in love with this beautiful door made of inlaid wood as well as a 100 year old vase that was a gift from France. The many paintings were quite interesting in telling the story of Prague.

In this painting a Prague official is in the Netherlands. You can see the windmills outside the windows.

Each different "house" you enter has another room with another purpose.

The last house that was part of the City Hall complex is now in private hands. It is called the House at the Minute and the exterior is beautiful

When you first look at it the exterior it appears to be intricately painted. However it is actually a process called sgraffitoes which dates to the Renaissance. Each section is solidly painted with the light color and then again with the darker color. Then the darker paint is scraped off in layers to create the designs.

It was time to start heading even farther back in time as we descended to tour the basements. On the way downs we saw remnants of some of the earliest unrestored wall paintings.

In the very early days of Prague, houses were built around the market area. Each year there were spring floods that overran the market and the homes. As a solution to this problem, earth was used to fill in and raise the level of the square and its surroundings to the tops of the homes which were then built up above ground again. Thus the basements of the current City Hall were at one time family homes. At times they have been used as a former courtroom and the Old Town prison.

Above you can see one of the wells that brought water to the homes (there is one that still has water in it). Below is one of the original doorways now buried deep underground.

Walking though these spaces you can only imagine what life was like living in these original homes.

In one area a section of wall has bones buried in it. This was considered to bring good fortune to the family. One can only hope they were animal bones.

In the last chamber some very special items were housed. Along with the weapons storage for the guards there were several of the original twelve apostle statues. The originals have been stored for safekeeping in the basement while detailed replicas are installed in the astronomical clock. There is also a cross made of wood from the burned out sections of the city hall destroyed during World War II.

Returning to street level we found ourselves in a chamber that was entirely mosaic tiles. It was both beautiful and impressive.

The final part of our tour was a trip to the top of the clock tower and a chance to see some of the best views of Prague. Luckily for us there was an elevator which we took up. We did walk down.