Wednesday, May 23, 2018 (continued)
From the Vyšehrad side of the Vltava River, we waited for a ferry.
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Limnigraph/water level recorder (1907,
restored and put back into operation in 2003) |
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| Here comes our ferry (KSS) |
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| Beth and Peter (KSS) |
On the left bank.
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| A skateboard park |
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| Staropramen Complex of the historical brewery |
Staropramen was founded in 1869, and was nationalized after World War II. In 1992 it became part of the Prague Breweries group/Pražské Pivovary, and is now the second largest brewery in the Czech Republic. "In every glass of Staropramen lies the free spirit of Prague."
We stopped for lunch at another Husa restaurant in the complex. Afterwards we caught a tram.
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St Henry's Tower/Jindrisska vez (1472-1475), the
tallest detached bell tower in Prague at 68 m/222' |
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Palace Hotel (1903-1909, by Goerge Justich
in Art Nouveau style) |
We visited the Mucha Museum/Muchovo Muzeum, of the artist and designer Alfons Mucha. Mucha trained as a theatrical backdrop painter in Moravia, and moved to Vienna to continue that work but also for art education. He ended up in Paris for art studies, and derived some income through magazine and advertising illustrations. When he designed a poster for the stage play Gismonda, featuring Sarah Bernhardt, it was so popular that it was being stolen from kiosks. This led to a six-year contract with Sarah Bernhardt, and the poster became an art form.
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| Printer's proofs of Mucha's Gismonda poster |
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Mucha did several series of four posters, including
The Times of Day (1899) |
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Zodiac (1896) was to be used as a calendar, and in
1970 the band Metromedia used this painting
on their debut album titled Gypsy (KSS) |
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| Easel, desk and chair of Alfons Mucha |
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| Crucifixion (1868) was drawn at age 8 |
We missed seeing Mucha's
The Slav Epic, 20 huge paintings depicting the history of the Czech and Slavic people, which were given to the city of Prague in 1928. Last on display at Prague's National Gallery in the Trade Fair Palace/
Veletržní Palác (the palace is under partial renovation) until 2016,
The Slav Epic appears to now be in Brno. Or at least nine of the paintings are in an exhibit there. Then what? Hopefully plans to renovate space at the Lapidarium in Prague are followed, and
The Slav Epic finds a permanent home.
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Haas's Department Store/Haasův obchodní dům
(1869-1871, by Theophil Hansen) was the first
modern department store in Prague |
Peter & Beth headed back to the hotel, and we caught a tram to our next destination.
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Absinthe appears to be a tourist drink,
and most of it is not true herbal absinthe |
Like the cannabis, absinthe appeals to many tourists because they cannot get it at home, and they do not realize that what they get here may not be the real thing.
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Statue (1983, by Josef Vajce) of astronomers
Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler
outside the Jan Kepler Grammar School |
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Basilica of the Assumption/Bazilika Nanebevzeti Panny
Marie (circa 1182 with the latest reconstruction in the
18C Baroque style) at the Strahov Monastery |
The Strahov Monastery/
Strahovský klášter was founded in 1143 or 9 by the Premonstratensians, a religious order of canons founded in 1120 by St Norbert. The monastery suffered under the Hussites and then the Swedes during the Thirty Years' War. In 1742 they were bombarded by the French. In 1989, the monastery was returned to the Premonstratensians and it continues as a working monastery.
No photos were allowed as we toured the Theological Hall (1679), and the Philosophical Hall (1782), both libraries to rival that of the Klementinum.
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| Time for a drink at the monastery brewpub! |
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| The St Norbert beers include amber, dark, IPA, and seasonal beers (KSS) |
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| The local brewery truck speaks for itself (KSS) |
Back on the tram to Lesser Town Square/
Malostranské náměstí. (Yes, Prague is made up of the Old Town, New Town, and Lesser Town along with the Castle District.)
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Smiřický Palace/Dům Smiřických (1603-1613, with additions and
reconstructions); it was here where the rebellious nobles met to
plan the 1618 Defenestration, against Habsburg rule |
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On the left is the Sternberg Palace/Šternberský palác (1684), a center of
Czech science, and it was here that the idea for a national museum
germinated; on the right is the Velikovský House/Velikovský dům (14C)
with a sundial showing true sunlight plus old Bohemian time |
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| Former Lesser Town City Hall/Malostranská Beseda (1478) |
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Holy Trinity Column/Morový Sloup Nejsvĕtĕjší Trojice
was raised to mark the end of the plague epidemic in 1713 |
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| Door of the Hartigovský palác (c 1720) (KSS) |
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In the center of the square sits the massive
St Nicholas Church/Kostel sv. Mikuláše (1703-1761,
by Christoph and Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer) |
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| St Nicholas Church (12/24/1981) |
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| Trams entering and leaving Lesser Town Square |
Although the sun was still to be seen, some rain started, but we kept walking.
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Church of Our Lady Victorious/Kostel Panny Marie
Vitězné (1611-1613 for the German Lutherans) |
After the counter-reformation, in 1624, the church was given to the Discalced Carmelite order. In 1628, Polyxena of Lobkowicz donated the statue of Jesus that became known as the Infant of Prague. The statue was credited for miraculous help during plagues and plunders, and became the object of pilgrimages. It was lost and then found, and when the monastery was abolished in the 1680s by Josef II, a group of English nuns cared for the statue. It was restored in 1879 and the Infant of Prague's healing powers and fame spread around the world. From 1939-1989, veneration of the statue was silenced, but the church was still a pilgrimage site, especially for those from Spanish-speaking countries. The Carmelites returned to Prague in 1993.
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What?! I remembered the Infant of Prague
being high above the altar, which was now covered! |
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Infant of Prague (12/26/1981); it was hard to see, but at certain times
they turned off the church lights and spotlighted the statue |
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But the Infant of Prague has its own altar on the right side of the church,
I guess I did not remember correctly! (KSS) |
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| Holy water font (KSS) |
We returned to the hotel.
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| The hotel on top of the hill |
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| The hotel restaurant's "barbecue patio" |
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When we reached our room for the first time,
we had all sorts of welcome goodies |
We met Peter & Beth and walked over to the commercial center of Anděl. Decided on dinner at the Pizzeria Ristorante Corleone, because of the "creative" gun sight.
Today the high temperature was 75 degrees F.
Next: Prague 5a.
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