Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
a majority vote in the university. In protest, the other “nations” upped and left for Leipzig,
the first of many ethnic problems that continued to bubble away throughout the university's
six-hundred-year history until the forced and violent expulsion of all German-speakers after
World War II.
Tobeginwith,theuniversityhadnofixedabode;itwasn'tuntil1383thatVáclavIVbought
the present site. All that's left of the original fourteenth-century building is the Gothic oriel
windowthatemergesfromthesouthwall;therestwastrashedbytheNazisin1945.Thenew
main entrance is a modern red-brick curtain wall building by Jaroslav Fragner, set back from
the street and inscribed with the original Latin name “Universitas Karolina”. Just a couple of
small departments and the chancellor's office and administration are now housed here, with
the rest spread over the length and breadth of the city. However, this is still where students
are sworn into the university and go through their graduation ceremony. The heavily restored
Gothic vaults, on the ground floor of the south wing, are now used as a contemporary
art
gallery
.
Sv Havel
Havelská • Mon-Fri 11.30am-1pm • 222 318 186 • Metro Můstek
Generally overlooked by tourists, the
church of sv Havel
has an undulating Baroque facade
designed by Santini. The name of the church has no relation to the playwright-president but
is dedicated to the Irish monk, St Gall. It was built in the thirteenth century to serve the
German-speaking community who had been invited to Prague partly to replace the Jewish
traders killed in the city's 1096 pogrom. Between 1380 and 1390 none other than future saint
Nepomuk served as parish priest here. During the re-catholization of the Czech Lands in the
eighteenth century the church was handed over to the Carmelites, who redesigned the interi-
or, now only visible through an iron grille.
Havelské tržiště (Havelské market)
Havelská • Mon-Sat 7am-6.30pm, Sun 8am-6pm • Metro Můstek
Havelské tržiště
, extending the length of Havelská, is the last surviving open-air bazaar in
the historical city centre. It was originally run by the German community, and stretched all
thewayfromOvocnýtrhtoUhelnýtrh,takinginacoupleofotherstreetsaswellatitszenith.
Today it sells everything from celery to CDs, with plenty of gewgaws and wooden toys in
between, though the standard of produce has fallen in recent years.
