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In-Depth Information
the world, with any urgent business passed to him through a hole in the wall of the tiny, or-
nate chapel of sv Kateřina .
Sv Kříž
The castle's finest interior, the Chapel of sv Kříž , connected by a wooden bridge that leads
to the building's highest structure, the Velká věž , is only open to visitors who book the
longer guided tour in advance. In the emperor's day, only a select few could enter this gil-
dedtreasure-house,whose6m-thickwallscontain2200semi-preciousstonesand128breath-
takingly beautiful fourteenth-century painted panels by the masterful Master Theodoric, Bo-
hemia's greatest fourteenth-century painter (a small selection of his panels are exhibited in
Prague's Anežský klášter). The imperial crown jewels, once secured here behind nineteen
separate locks, were removed to Hungary after an abortive attack by the Hussites, while the
Bohemian jewels are now stashed away in the cathedral in Prague.
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: KARLŠTEJN
By train Trains for Karlštejn depart from Prague's hlavní nádraží (hourly; 40min). The vil-
lage is a 10min walk across the river from the station, and it's a further 15-20min climb up
to the castle.
EATING
Koruna Karlštejn 13 311 681 465, korunakarlstejn.cz . Part of Hotel Koruna , just down
from the castle, this cosy Czech restaurant has surprisingly affordable mains given its loc-
ation and tourist footfall. The fish comes highly recommended and there's plenty of fried
cheese for non-carnivores. Mains 69-270Kč. Daily 11am-11pm.
U Janů Karlštejn 90 722 943 459, ujanu.com . Bag a table in the sun at this popular
lunch spot for a meat and dumplings combo or a pizza. Mains 89-200Kč. Daily 10am-4pm.
< Back to Day-trips from Prague
Lidice
Thesmallminingvillageof LIDICE ,18kmnorthwestofPrague,hitworldheadlinesonJune
10, 1942, at the moment when it ceased to exist. On the flimsiest pretext, it was chosen as
scapegoat for the assassination of the Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich . All 173 men from the
village were rounded up and shot by the SS, the 198 women were sent to Ravensbrück con-
centrationcamp,andthe89childreneitherwenttothecamps,or,iftheywereAryanenough,
were packed off to “good” German homes, while the village itself was burnt to the ground.
After the massacre, the “Lidice shall live” campaign was launched and villages all over the
world began to change their name to Lidice. The first was Stern Park Gardens, Illinois, soon
followed by villages in Mexico and other Latin American countries. From Coventry to Mon-
tevideo, towns twinned themselves with Lidice, so that rather than “wiping a Czech village
 
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