Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The
Muzeum Karlova mostu
just off the Charles Bridge houses an exhibition on the
bridge's history. Anyone with an interest in stonemasonry and engineering will enjoy it; the
archive film footage is interesting for anyone. From the museum it's possible to access the
underground spaces beneath the
Church of František z Assisi
, the original Gothic build-
ing whose foundations were laid in 1252 by Anežka Přemyslovna, daughter of King Přemysl
Otakar II, later Saint Anežka (St Agnes).
Notice the series of numbers above the entrance to the museum - 135797531. This palin-
drome gives the auspicious moment, to the minute, chosen for Charles IV to lay the bridge's
first stone: in the year 1357, on the ninth day of the seventh month, at 5.31am.
Sv František z Assisi (St Francis of Assisi)
Tram #17, #18 or #24 to Karlovy lázně
The half-brick
church of sv František z Assisi
was built in the 1680s to a design by Jean-
Baptiste Mathey for the Czech Order of Knights of the Cross with a Red Star, the original
gatekeepers of the old Judith Bridge. Founded in the thirteenth century, the order reached the
zenith of its power in the seventeenth century, during which its monks supplied most of the
archbishops of Prague.
The church's interior is a real period piece, dominated by its huge dome, decorated with
a fresco of the Last Judgement by Václav Vavřinec Reiner, and smothered in rich marble
and gilded furnishings; its design served as a blueprint for numerous subsequent Baroque
churches in Prague.
Sv Salvátor (St Saviour)
Tram #17, #18 or #24 to Karlovy lázně
Over the road from sv František z Assisi is the
church of sv Salvátor
, its facade prickling
withsaintlystatuesthatareattractivelyilluminatedafterdark.Foundedin1593,butnotcom-
pleted until 1714, sv Salvátor marks the beginning of the Jesuits' rise to power and is part of
the
Klementinum complex
. Like many of their churches, its design copies that of the Gesù
church in Rome; it's worth a quick look, if only for the bubbly stucco and delicate ironwork
in its triple-naved interior.
Karlova
RunningfromKřižovnickénáměstíallthewaytoMalénáměstí,thenarrowstreetof
Karlova
is invariably packed with people winding their way towards Staroměstské náměstí, their at-
tentiondividedbetweencheckingoutthesouvenirshopsandnotlosingtheirway.WithEuro-
pop blaring from several shops, jesters' hats and puppets in abundance, and an army of Rus-
sian touts and enthusiastic Serb and Croat shopkeepers, the place can feel oppressive in the
height of summer, and is, in many ways, better savoured in the evening.
