Old Town (Staré Město) and Charles Bridge (Karlův most)
One of my favorite images from Prague, This is the view from the Lesser Town bridge tower, on the Malá Strana side, Malostranská mostecká věž.
Here we are looking directly across the Charles Bridge (Karlův most) and the Vltava - and past the iconic masterwork of Gothic towers, the Old Town Bridge tower - into Old Town of Praha, Staré Město.
On the far left (top) is Týn Church and the Old Town Square (including astronomical clock, Town Hall, Hus Monument, etc.). In the center, on the hill behind the Old Town Bridge Tower, you can see what local residents affectionately call "the rocket launcher". (It is a communication tower, actually.) On the bottom right, just out of this view, is a quaint canal with a waterwheel, the "Lennon Wall", and the Franz Kafka Museum.
The taller of the two towers standing at the Malá Strana bank of the Vltava River (where I am standing while taking this photo) is the youngest part of the entire Charles Bridge. It was built beginning in 1464 for the Czech King George of Podebrady in place of an older Romanesque tower, which was built together with the lower tower (Judith Tower) which was Romanesque style and dates to the 12th Century.
This newer, taller tower's appearance was inspired by Parléř's Old Town Bridge Tower standing at the opposite end of the Charles Bridge and is "a rare monument of the Prague post-Hussite Gothic style." The Old Town Bridge Tower (at the far end of the bridge here) is described as "one of the most impressive Gothic works in the world", built for Emperor Charles (the bridge's namesake) as both a gate to the Old Town and as a symbolic triumphal arch through which passed Bohemian kings en route to their coronation at St. Vitus, within Prague Castle.
Besides serving to protect the gate into the Lesser Town, the Lesser Town Tower building served as a warehouse and a fire watchtower. The tower stands at 43.5 meters, with a gallery section at 26m, originally intended for sculpture exhibition.
[References: Prague City Museum and Prague.eu ]
More images "here" (Google album and collection) and much more @
http://www.fenichel.com/prague (Complete collection)
More images of Kampa & Malá Strana :
http://www.fenichel.com/prague/malastrana.shtmlMore not-yet-Googlized images:
Charles Bridge:
http://www.fenichel.com/prague/charles.shtmlAstronomical Clock (orloj):
http://www.fenichel.com/prague/clock.shtmlVltava & Bridge Views, from St. Vitus (Hrad):
http://www.fenichel.com/prague/vltava.shtml #prague #Praha #Praga #Czechia #CzechRepublic #czech #gothic #Bridges #cities #cityscape #cityscapephotography #travelphotography #urbanphotography #architecture
