Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Karlovo náměstí
Metro Karlovo náměstí
Theimpressiveproportionsof Karlovonáměstí ,oncePrague'sbiggestsquare,arenolonger
so easy to appreciate, obscured by a scruffy tree-planted public garden and cut in two by the
busy thoroughfare of Ječná. The square was created by Charles IV as Nové Město's cattle
market and used by him for the grisly annual public display of his impressive collection of
saintly relics; today it actually signals the southern limit of the city's main commercial dis-
trict and the beginning of predominantly residential part of Nové Město.
Novoměstská radnice (New Town Hall)
Karlovo náměstí 23 • Tower Mid-April to mid-Oct Tues-Sun 10am-6pm • 50Kč • 224 948 229, nr-
praha.cz • Metro Karlovo náměstí
The Novoměstská radnice , at the northeastern corner of Karlovo náměstí, sports three im-
pressive triangular gables embellished with intricate blind tracery. It was built, like the town
hall on Staroměstské náměstí, during the reign of King John of Luxembourg, though it has
survivedratherbetter,andisnowoneofthefinestGothicbuildingsinthecity.Itwasherethat
Prague's firstdefenestration took place on July 30, 1419, when the radical Hussite preacher
Jan Želivský and his penniless religious followers stormed the building, mobbed the council-
lorsandburghers,andthrewtwelveorthirteenofthem(includingthemayor)outofthetown
hall windows onto the pikes of the Hussite mob below, who clubbed any survivors to death.
VáclavIV,onhearingthenews,sufferedastrokeanddiedtwoweekslater.Sobeganthelong
and bloody Hussite Wars. After the amalgamation of Prague's towns in 1784, the building
was used as a criminal court and prison. Nowadays, you can visit the site of the defenestra-
tion, and climb to the top of the tower for a view over central Prague.
Sv Ignác
Ječná 2 • Services early morning & 5.30pm • 221 990 200 • Metro Karlovo náměstí
During the Counter-Reformation the Jesuits were allowed to demolish 23 houses on the east
side of Karlovo náměstí to make way for their college (now one of the city's main hospitals)
and the accompanying churchofsvIgnác (St Ignatius), begun in 1665 by Carlo Lurago and
finished by Martin Reiner and Paul Ignaz Bayer. The statue of St Ignatius, which sits above
the tympanum surrounded by a sunburst, caused controversy at the time, as until then only
the Holy Trinity had been depicted in such a way. The church, modelled, like so many Jesuit
churches, on the Gesù in Rome, is quite remarkable inside, a salmon-pink and white confec-
tion, with lots of frothy stuccowork and an exuberant powder-pink pulpit dripping with gold
drapery, cherubs and saints.
Faustův dům (Faust House)
Karlovo náměstí 40 • Metro Karlovo náměstí
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search