Our last day in Prague started out on a bluebird day—60˚ and sunny, reaching around 70˚. We decided to visit a few sites that we had discovered on our other adventures, and also to pay a planned visit to the Museum of Communism.
Prague is an inviting city to walk in, as long as you have a way to navigate the spider web of streets and alleys of the older parts of the city. I’ve never loved my Apple Watch more in that regard. It would be a nightmare to drive in, at least to me. Some things that look like roads are actually walkways, and some little alleys that look like walkways play host to some fast drivers. All of the streets and sidewalks in the Castle Quarter and Old Town are cobblestone or smaller stone, and over the years they’ve developed some interesting ups and downs. There is not a level place to walk. Even the ubiquitous electric scooters have a difficult time with some of the uneven surfaces.
Anyway, the first stop was the Church of the Klementinium—a structure we had missed even after walking by it several times because we thought it was part of St. Salvatore, with which it shares a wall. I wish we hadn’t walked by it so often, as it’s quite beautiful and we didn’t get a lot of time to learn about it or contemplate it. Still, a few images:
The second stop was The Church of Our Lady Before Tyn, or the Tyn Church. It’s a spectacular, soaring Gothic structure established by the Catholic Church in the mid-14th century and by 1700 had taken on a Baroque interior. Then the Protestants took over (long story) and stripped it of its adornments, whitewashing it on the process. When the Catholics under the Hapsburg took it back (another long story) they went overboard—WAY overboard—in restoring the Baroque interior. As you can see below:
Next in line was the Prague Museum of Communism. It actually a fascinating story of life the Czechoslovakia under the Communist regime. In a word, it was brutal, almost beyond measure. The museum tells the story in a very powerful and engaging way. It reminds us all how recently (1980s) that the Communist Party ruled Czechoslovakia, and the story of their liberation under Văclav Havel is recent memory for most of us. Wonderful museum. Didn’t take any pictures, but it gets my vote as a must visit—and must remember.
Finally, we headed over to the Convent of St. Agnes—a beautiful Romanesque building part of which houses the National Gallery of Prague, a museum which displays many medieval and early Renaissance works. If you haven’t seen enough Annunciations in your time, stop by here. The convent is no longer in use and is free to explore, with a self-guided tour which is very interesting. A few images:
