17 Interesting Facts About Prague, Czech Republic

8/9/2018

1. Nicknames for Prague have included "city of a hundred spires", "the golden city", "the Left Bank of the Nineties", the "mother of cities", and "the heart of Europe."

2. Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic.

3. Pedestrian Charles Bridge, completed in 1402, is lined with 30 statues of saints.

4. The city is divided into 10 districts.

5. Prague Castle is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest castle in the world at 17,297 acres.

6. Jan Hus, religious reformer and creator of the Hussite Religion, met a very gruesome death by being burned alive for heresy for his outspoken view of the corruption of the Catholic Church.

7. The Astronomical Clock is an impressive piece of Czech (and mechanical) history and was created in 1410 by two men: Mikuláš of Kadaň and Jan Šindel.

Credit: Dreamstime.com

8. Franz Kafka (July 3, 1883 - June 3, 1924) was born in Prague and has come to be one of the most influential writers of this century.

9. On the summer solstice ever year, around June 20 or 21, while viewing the sunset from the gate of the bridge tower on the Old Town end of Charles Bridge, the last rays appear precisely at the spot where the remains of St. Vitus are buried.

10. The unofficially named “John Lennon Wall” sits in a quiet corner near the Charles Bridge, filled with regularly changing portraits, Beatles lyrics and scrawled messages from international tourists.

11. It was in Prague, that the general assembly of the International Astronomical Union, which gathered Aug. 14–25, 2006 in the Czech capital, voted to redefine Pluto as a “dwarf planet” rather than a full-fledged planet, thereby decreasing the number of official planets in the solar system from nine to eight.

12. Prague sculptor, David Černy, known for his strange and unusual work, created the "Babies with bar code faces" on the castle side of the Vltava River, near the Kampa Modern Art Museum.

(credit: prague beer garden)

13.The locals drink more beer per capita than any other country in the world.

credit: grammy.com

14. The Rolling Stones paid for the lighting of Prague Castle.

(credit: thousand wonders)

15. The Petřín Lookout Tower is accessible via 299 stairs with a spectacular view of the city from the top of the tower, 51 meters high.

16. The Vltava River is the longest river in the Czech Republic and flows through the center of Prague.

17. The Old New Synagogue or Altneuschul situated in Josefov, Prague, is Europe's oldest active synagogue. It is also the oldest surviving medieval synagogue of twin-nave design.

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Tanya

Tanya is a free sprit who resides in Southern California with the only family that she has outside of NY (you can take a girl out of the city, but you’ll never take the city out of this girl). Her housemates include her mom, her 2 sisters, her brother, her sister’s boyfriend, her niece, her 2 kids and her ex! Yup...all under one roof! Her professional career and background was in film (writing, production and acting). Currently she is a stay at home mom - who is hardly ever at home, and who’s passions are: everything travel related, food (both cooking and eating), photography, skiing and of course, shopping!

Elisa

Elisa is co-founder of Travelin' Cousins travel blog along with her cousin "Travelin' Tanya." She lives on Long Island, New York with her two daughters and her dog Punkin. An entrepreneur whose professional career has included a variety of businesses in the toy, licensing and direct marketing businesses, she is now a blogger and freelance writer. Since her teen years, she has traveled extensively throughout the United States, Europe and Asia and continues to travel these days throughout the world with her daughters and cousin Tanya. Her other passions include cooking, dining, the theatre and shopping.