Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SIGHTS
Old Town Square & Around
HIST
HISTORIC B
ORIC BUILDING
UILDING
OLD TOWN HALL
HIST
HISTORIC SITE
ORIC SITE
ASTRONOMICAL CLOCK
SSQUARE
ARE
OLD TOWN SQUARE
(Staroměstské náměstí; Staro-městská)
One of Europe's biggest and most beautiful
urban spaces, the Old Town Square (Staroměstské náměstí, or Staromák for short) has
been Prague's principal public square since the 10th century, and was its main market-
place until the beginning of the 20th century.
There are busking jazz bands and alfresco concerts, political meetings and fashion
shows, plus Christmas and Easter markets, all watched over by Ladislav Šaloun's
brooding art-nouveau
statue of Jan Hus
. It was unveiled on 6 July 1915, which
was the 500th anniversary of Hus' death at the stake.
The brass strip on the ground nearby is the so-called
Prague Meridian
. Until
1915 the square's main feature was a 17th-century plague column, whose shadow
used to cross the meridian at high noon.
