Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
that spot high over the square today.
Behind the statue of Jan Hus, the bronze statue of a mother
with her children represents the ultimate rebirth of the Czech
nation. Because of his bold stance for independence in the way
common people worship God, Hus was excommunicated and
burned in Germany, a century before the age of Martin Luther.
Old Town Square Orientation Spin-Tour
Whirl clockwise to get a look at Prague's diverse architec-
tural styles: Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, and Art
Nouveau. Start with the green domes of the Baroque
Church
of St. Nicholas.
Originally Catholic, now Hussite, this church
is a popular venue for concerts. (There's another green-domed
Church of St. Nicholas—also popular for concerts—by the same
architect, across the Charles Bridge in the Little Quarter.) The
Jewish Quarter (Josefov) is a few blocks behind the church, down
the uniquely tree-lined Pařížská—“Paris street.” (For more on
the Jewish Quarter, see page 68.) Pařížská, an eclectic cancan of
mostly Art Nouveau facades, leads to a bluff that once sported
a 100-foot-tall stone statue of Stalin. Demolished in 1962 after
Khrushchev exposed Stalin's crimes, it was replaced in 1991 by
a giant ticking
metronome
—partly to commemorate Prague's
