Prague Castle

Pražský hrad

Approximate coordinates (gps): 50.08967 14.39816

Prague Castle (Czech: Pražský hrad) is a castle complex in Prague, Czech Republic, dating from the 9th century and the official residence of the President of the Czech Republic. The castle was a seat of power for kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman emperors, and presidents of Czechoslovakia. The Bohemian Crown Jewels are kept within a hidden room inside it. According to the Guinness Book of Records, Prague Castle is the largest ancient castle in the world, occupying an area of almost 70,000 m2, at about 570 meters in length and an average of about 130 meters wide. Inside the castle there is St. Vitus Cathedral, the traditional place of coronation of Czech kings and their final resting place. Outside many Czech rulers (including four emperors), Prague bishops and archbishops, clergy, nobles and other people connected with the Prague court in the cathedral buried and some saints - a large part of the Czech provincial saints (St. Vaclav Vit Vojtech, Zikmund or Jan Nepomuk). There are also the Czech crown jewels. The area of ​​the castle is questionable, but usually gives an indication about 7.28 hectares. It is regarded not only as a symbol of the city, but also the Czech statehood and according to the Guinness Book of Records for the largest ancient castle in the world. King Premysl Otakar II. he was at the time one of the most revered monarchs of Europe. This corresponded to its reconstruction at the Castle. In the early years the government has focused on improving the fortifications, especially on the most sensitive western side, where the trenches were extended, and the entrance in the Black Tower to the east abolished. Rebuilt the royal palace for the purposes of representation and housing. Gothic upswing continued during the reign of the Luxemburg. Already in the 30s of the 14th century it began a costly reconstruction of the royal palace modeled on French palaces. Then it was rebuilt in the Romanesque palace floor and was expanded arcades towards the castle, which has thus build another dimensional representational floor. The upper floor were mostly called. The Great Hall, the predecessor Vladislav palace and bay chapel, the remains of which can be seen in the southern walls of the Vladislav Hall. In 1344, Charles IV., The then Prince called and asked Margrave of Moravia with a longtime friend Arnost of Pardubice and his father, King John of Luxembourg, the foundation stone of St. Paul's Cathedral. Welcomes in relation to the advancement of the Prague diocese to archdiocese. Its main architects were Mathias of Arras and later eter Parler. It is a three-aisled cathedral with a transept, a gallery and a ring of chapels. The most important of these is the Chapel of St. Wenceslas was built over the grave of St. Vaclav. Great, South and Bell tower, 96.5 meters high, was founded by Peter Parler, but not completed until 1554 and 1770 fitted with a Baroque dome. The western part of 80meters towers were built in the 19th and 20th century by Josef Mocker. The cathedral was completed under President T. G. Masaryk and Prague Archbishop Francis Kordač, when it was officially opened to the Saint Wenceslas Millennium September 28, 1929.

Statue of St. George

Socha sv.Jiří

The bronze equestrian statue of St. George fighting the dragon in the third courtyard of Prague Castle made in 1373 the brothers Martin and George of Cluj. It is one of the most important Czech Gothic sculptures in bronze. The statue was damaged in the 1541 fire at the Prague Castle, where she insulted his right hand and it had to be re-welded. Another incident struck the statue in 1562, when it climbed to the audience to see at a jousting tournament, sculpture degenerated and broken off the horse's head. At present, the courtyard is a bronze copy of the statue, the original is exhibited as part of the exhibition The Story of Prague Castle in the old royal palace. Further copies, gypsum coated, is located in the National Museum Lapidary and in the lobby of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague .

St. Vitus Cathedral

Katedrála svatého Víta

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saints Vitus, Wenceslaus and Adalbert (Czech: metropolitní katedrála svatého Víta, Václava a Vojtěcha) is a Roman Catholic metropolitan cathedral in Prague, the seat of the Archbishop of Prague. Up to 1997, the cathedral was dedicated only to Saint Vitus, and is still commonly named only as St. Vitus Cathedral. This cathedral is an excellent example of Gothic architecture and is the biggest and most important church in the country. Located within Prague Castle and containing the tombs of many Bohemian kings and Holy Roman Emperors, the cathedral is under the ownership of the Czech government as part of the Prague Castle complex. Cathedral dimensions are 124 × 60 meters, the main tower is 96.5 meters high, front towers 82 m, arch height 33.2 m. The current cathedral is the third of a series of religious buildings at the site, all dedicated to St. Vitus. The first church was an early Romanesque rotunda founded by Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia in 930. This patron saint was chosen because Wenceslaus had acquired a holy relic – the arm of St. Vitus – from Emperor Henry I. It is also possible that Wenceslaus, wanting to convert his subjects to Christianity more easily, chose a saint whose name (Svatý Vít in Czech) sounds very much like the name of Slavic solar deity Svantevit. Two religious populations, the increasing Christian and decreasing pagan community, lived simultaneously in Prague castle at least until the 11th century. In the year 1060, as the bishopric of Prague was founded, prince Spytihněv II embarked on building a more spacious church, as it became clear the existing rotunda was too small to accommodate the faithful. A much larger and more representative romanesque basilica was built in its spot. Though still not completely reconstructed, most experts agree it was a triple-aisled basilica with two choirs and a pair of towers connected to the western transept. The design of the cathedral nods to Romanesque architecture of the Holy Roman Empire, most notably to the abbey church in Hildesheim and the Speyer Cathedral. The southern apse of the rotunda was incorporated into the eastern transept of the new church because it housed the tomb of St. Wenceslaus, who had by now become the patron saint of the Czech princes. A bishop's mansion was also built south of the new church, and was considerably enlarged and extended in the mid 12th-century. The present-day Gothic Cathedral was founded on 21 November 1344, when the Prague bishopric was raised to an archbishopric. Its patrons were the chapter of cathedral (led by a Dean), the Archbishop Arnost of Pardubice, and, above all, Charles IV, King of Bohemia and a soon-to-be Holy Roman Emperor, who intended the new cathedral to be a coronation church, family crypt, treasury for the most precious relics of the kingdom, and the last resting place cum pilgrimage site of patron saint Wenceslaus. The first master builder was a Frenchman Matthias of Arras, summoned from the papal palace in Avignon. Matthias designed the overall layout of the building as, basically, an import of French Gothic: a triple-naved basilica with flying buttresses, short transept, five-bayed choir and decagon apse with ambulatory and radiating chapels. However, he lived to build only the easternmost parts of the choir: the arcades and the ambulatory. The slender verticality of Late French Gothic and clear, almost rigid respect of proportions distinguish his work today. Perhaps the most outstanding place in the cathedral is the Chapel of St. Wenceslas, where the relics of the saint are kept. The room was built by Peter Parler between 1344 and 1364 and has a ribbed vault. The lower part of the walls are wonderfully decorated with over 1300 semi-precious stones and paintings about the Passion of Christ dating from the original decoration of the chapel in 1372–1373. The upper part of the walls have paintings about the life of St Wenceslas, created by the Master of the Litoměřice Altarpiece between 1506 and 1509. In the middle of the wall there is a Gothic statue of St. Wenceslas created by Jindrich Parler (Peter's nephew) in 1373. The Chapel is not open to the public, but it can be viewed from the doorways. A small door with seven locks, in the south-western corner of the chapel, leads to the Crown Chamber containing the Czech Crown Jewels, which are displayed to the public only once every (circa) eight years. In 1997, with 1000th anniversary of Saint Voitechus death, the patrocinium (dedication) of the church was re-extended to Saint Wenceslaus and Saint Voitechus (abroad known under his confirmation as Adalbert). The previous Romanesque basilica had this triple patrocinium to the main Bohemian patrons since 1038 when relics of Saint Voitechus were placed here.

Czech Army Exhibitions

Exhibice Armády ČR

Approximate coordinates (gps): 50.08970 14.39784

Castle Guard

Hradní stráž

Castle Guard is a special component of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic, is subordinate to the Chief of the Military Office of the President, who is appointed and dismissed by the President.

Supermarine Spitfire

Approximate coordinates (gps): 50.08970 14.39784

The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries during and after the Second World War. The Spitfire was built in many variants, using several wing configurations, and was produced in greater numbers than any other British aircraft. It was also the only British fighter to be in continuous production throughout the war. The Spitfire continues to be popular among enthusiasts, with approximately 53 Spitfires being airworthy, while many more are static exhibits in aviation museums throughout the world. The Spitfire was designed as a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works (which operated as a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrong from 1928). In accordance with its role as an interceptor, Mitchell designed the Spitfire's distinctive elliptical wing to have the thinnest possible cross-section; this thin wing enabled the Spitfire to have a higher top speed than several contemporary fighters, including the Hawker Hurricane. Mitchell continued to refine the design until his death in 1937, whereupon his colleague Joseph Smith took over as chief designer, overseeing the development of the Spitfire through its multitude of variants. During the Battle of Britain, from July to October 1940, the Spitfire was perceived by the public to be the RAF fighter, though the more numerous Hawker Hurricane shouldered a greater proportion of the burden against the Nazi German air force, the Luftwaffe. Spitfire units, however, had a lower attrition rate and a higher victory-to-loss ratio than those flying Hurricanes because of its higher performance. After the Battle of Britain the Spitfire superseded the Hurricane to become the backbone of RAF Fighter Command, and saw action in the European, Mediterranean, Pacific and the South-East Asian theatres. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire served in several roles, including interceptor, photo-reconnaissance, fighter-bomber and trainer, and it continued to serve in these roles until the 1950s. The Seafire was a carrier-based adaptation of the Spitfire which served in the Fleet Air Arm from 1942 through to the mid-1950s. Although the original airframe was designed to be powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine producing 1,030 hp (768 kW), it was strong enough and adaptable enough to use increasingly powerful Merlin and, in later marks, Rolls-Royce Griffon engines producing up to 2,340 hp (1,745 kW); as a consequence of this the Spitfire's performance and capabilities improved over the course of its life.

Jeep Willys MB

Approximate coordinates (gps): 50.08970 14.39784

The Willys MB (commonly known as a Jeep, formally as the U.S. Army Truck, 1/4 ton, 4x4) is a four-wheel drive utility vehicle that was manufactured during World War II. Produced from 1941 to 1945, it evolved post-war into the civilian Jeep CJ-2A, and inspired both an entire category of recreational 4WDs and several generations of military light utility vehicles.

Garden on the Bastion

Zahrada Na Baště

The fourth courtyard of Prague Castle is one of four courtyard of Prague Castle, the majority of which occupies a garden on the Bastion. it is situated in the western part of the castle complex. You can enter it beside the gate of the Archbishop's Palace at Hradcany Square, on the eastern side of the passage in the palace II. castle courtyard or from the north staircase of the Deer Moat and Plečnik's footbridge from the Powder Bridge along the northern wing of the castle. Courtyard area, as defined in the palace only buildings to the south and east, is divided into smaller paved the southern and northern part of the raised garden on the Bastion. The other castle courtyard clearly differ. It is located on secondary roads - not part of the ceremonial entry, do not form a flat surface (ie. Only own a small courtyard to the south), and is supplemented with greens actually it is not a classical courtyard: a palatial building not primarily designed to define the courtyard, the remaining parties forming the enclosing wall of the neighboring building and terrace extended beyond the perimeter of the castle wings. Also called "Fourth courtyard" takes only in recent decades.

Christmas

Vánoce

Christmas decoration at the Prague Castle.