Europe 2019 - Day 30 (Part 2)

5 June 2019, Wednesday

Soon after the establishment of the town hall, the underground areas were used as a city prison. It looked more like a dungeon to me. There used to be a master executioner working here at the beginning of the 17th century, Jan Mydlář. He beheaded 27 Bohemian aristocrats who had defied the ruling Habsburgs, and he apparently blunted 4 swords during their execution on the Old Town Square in 1621. Yikes. But then. I know a few people who Jan Mydlář can blunt his execution sword for. And by the way, the execution sword weighed 25 kgs!!

Then we saw a cistern for rainwater which is within the house itself, for safety purposes (poisoning) and also in case of any attacks, the inhabitants would be safe within their house walls with sufficient drinking water. There was an entrance portal which formerly led into the street, but is now located 4 metres below the surface. We also saw a medieval alley between 2 houses. It was vaulted rather than filled in during the raising of the terrain and a gothic house was built above it. It is paved with pebbles from the environs of the Vltava River. It is the original road from the 12th-13th century. How cool!

There were actually many other interesting places to see in the Old Town Hall but the tour only covered these areas, and you can’t go to many of these areas without a guide. Creeps. We went up the Old Town Hall Tower, though, and had an aerial view of Old Town Prague from high up above.

From the Old Town Hall, we could see the Church of Our Lady before Týn in the distance. It is a beautiful, huge Gothic church built in the 14th century, and it has been the main church of this part of Prague since then. The church's towers are 80 metres high and topped by four small spires.

Then we were done with the Old Town Hall so we walked around Old Town Prague. This area is just brimming with tourists, it is really crowded shoulder to shoulder, especially in front of the Astronomical Clock every hour. What with pickpockets and taking pictures, one had to grow 2 extra pairs of eyes here. We saw many churches along the way, 3 of the most notable being St Nicholas’ Church, St Clement’s Church and St Francis’ Church. I bought some souvenirs on the way. We also came across an Apple Museum. It had a nice saying on its facade:

“Three Apples changed the world

The first tempted Eve,

The second inspired Newton and

The third was offered to the world half eaten by Steve Jobs.”

From Old Town Square, we walked to Charles Bridge, named after the golden era emperor Charles IV. It was crowded with tourists here too. The views from the bridge were stunning, with the Prague Castle in the background.

From Charles Bridge we walked into Malá Strana, where we saw what has come to be known as the John Lennon Wall, a wall that has been around since the communist era and is covered in graffiti with all sorts of messages, mostly political.