PRAGUE INTRODUCTION, Introduction

Hi, my name’s Scott, and I’m your personal guide. Along with MyWoWo, I’d like to welcome you to one of the wonders of the world: Prague.

Visited every year by over seven million tourists, Prague is a crossroads of German, Slavic and Austrian cultures. The city has been a capital since its foundation more than 1200 years ago: first of the Duchy of Bohemia and then of the Holy Roman Empire; since 1993, after the separation from Slovakia, it has been the capital of the Czech Republic.

Most of all, however, as you’ll immediately realize, Prague is one of the world’s capitals of art: of Gothic art in the 14th century, during the reign of Charles IV; of Renaissance art in the 16th century, when Rudolf II’s court welcomed an abundance of scientists and artists of the caliber of Kepler and Arcimboldo, and of Baroque in the 18th century under the Habsburgs.

From Romanesque through Art Nouveau, known here as Secese, to the experimentational efforts of contemporary Cubist architecture, there is a work of art just waiting to be discovered in every corner, side street and square in Prague.

In the Castle, the largest stronghold in the world surrounded by walls on all sides, you can admire a whole series of monuments from all ages, such as the famous Cathedral, or the magnificent Royal Palace.

Displayed in the city’s splendid museums are masterworks by the finest European artists of the last thousand years.

Although it is known as the City of a Hundred Towers, Prague actually has over a thousand of them, with the Gothic spires of the churches and the Baroque façades of the buildings in the Old Town coming together to form a magical, fairytale urban landscape, the emblem of which is the Astronomical Clock.

In such a scenario, it’s easy to keep believing the legends about the alchemists of the Golden Lane. Prague is a city that casts a spell over every visitor.

You can savor all the magic of the city in the Baroque gardens, with a boat trip along the Vltava, or in the hundreds of historic coffee bars, sophisticated pastry shops and traditional beer houses, or just gazing into the spectacular displays of crystal in the shop windows.

An interesting fact: the city of Prague owes part of its success to Bohemian crystal, the most popular in the world for two centuries. It was a jeweler at the court of Rudolf II who first began carving glass like diamonds, making the objects more precious.

So get ready to visit the wonders of this splendid city.

Enjoy your stay!