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....