Saturday, April 14, 2012

Architecture

Prague is one of the most beautiful cities you will ever see. Everywhere you look you are presented with a new vista, each with something else to see. It is impossible to capture it adequately on a camera. I tried (nearly 500 pics). This is just a sampling of what we saw.
The castle and St. Vitus' cathedral dominate the landscape. We could see it clearly from Shannon and Elizabeth's terrace. You could actually pretty much see it from anywhere in the city.




Every building was covered with ornate detail. While it seemed over the top at times, we appreciated that each building was unique and that time and thought were taken to make each one a work of art.




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This is the National Theater. The roof gleams in the sunlight from the golden decorations. You can also see many statues that line the upper terrace. I wanted to see each one because each was a unique expression.








Much of the architecture was also practical, used in the defense of the cities in it past. This is a bridge tower, from which guards could control access to the bridges which led to the castle grounds, can you see it in the background?




This is the Czech Eiffel tower, it is called Petrin Tower. It is in the middle of beautiful gardens on top of a very steep hill. The park was filled with cherry trees, apple trees and vineyards. They weren't blooming at the time but I could imagine these areas serving as a nice place to walk and relax.




This is a large chapel in the old downtown of Prague. We couldn't take pictures inside but I gasped when I looked in. There will be more about the many cathedrals we saw in later posts.




This is the gate to the castle. It is a pretty big deal. There is a lot to see here, so it gets it's own post too!




But here is an exterior of St.Vitus' cathedral, I really wish I could give some scale to this. This will have to do for now.




This is a powder tower at the end of the Charles bridge, which is also covered with statues. Once again, another stunning view!




Many buildings are decorated with murals or paintings to make the stand out a little more. The funny thing is that they aren't ads for businesses. Most are just apartment buildings.




Prague is especially pretty at night. Many of the buildings are lit and the shadows add a lot to the aesthetic.




There is so much more to show. Right now we are headed to Bratislava in Slovakia and Vienna, Austria. So stay tuned for more culture, right here!

Location:Prague, Czech Republic

2 comments:

Shannon said...

Ooops! I forgot reading this post where Chris knew the cathedral's name. Oh well! :-P

Elizabeth Bradley said...

Yay! My favorite street made it onto the blog. And sadly, I discovered literally the day after you left that we might have been able to arrange a tour of the National Theater (though they only do it in English a couple of times a month). How great would that have been?!? Especially because my friend said you can go up on the roof and see the statues! We're hoping to go on that tour soon.