Our guide will walk you along the very same route
centuries of Czech kings used to travel to Prague
Castle. This route was the scene of festive coronation
parades until the last coronation in 1836.
This is a 4 hour walking tour.
4 HOUR TOUR
GUIDE ONLY
Tickets to attractions are not included.
The Church of Our Lady Before Tyn in the Old Town Square
"One of the most valuable relics of High Gothic is the tympanon on the nothern portal of the church, it was created by Parler´s stone works and shows the dramatic scene of Christ´s crucifixion. the two thieves are seen crucified to the Saviour´s right and left, and the work is unusual because it reveals their souls leaving their bodies. The soul of crook who believed Christ is seen being led to heaven by angels, while the soul of the blasphemer is fought over by the demons of hell."
Tycho de Brahe died on 24 October 1601 at the age of fifty-five, and was buried in the Church of Our Lady Before Tyn. His gravestone, placed near the pillar on the right of the altar, was chiselled in antique style and shows the astronomer in relief standing in a knight´s armour.
The base reveals the coat-of-arms of noblemen Brahe, Bilde, Ulestade and Rude, followed by the words: "Dane Tycho Brahe, nobleman of Knutstrup". It also includes his credo which reads: "Rather to be, than to appear.".
It is aparent from the relief, that Brahe had a prostheses instead of a nose (it had been cut-off in a duel in Denmark).
The prostheses was attached with a special kind of glue.
JanJessenius, the rector of Prague University, gave the speech at Brahe´s funeral.
Not long before his death Brahe helped Jessenius gain parmission from the emperor Rudolph II, to perform the first authopsy in the Czech Lands. The post-mortem made use of a man who had died in the gallows, and according to surviving evidence, the procedure took place in cooler weather, to lessen the stench of the decaying cadaver. Other present included Brahe, Tadeas Hajek of Hajek and court historian Typoti."
"Retracing the Royal Route, passing over the Charles Bridge, one finds oneself at a place near the Old Town Square where many streets go of in different directions. The central point where the paths diverge has no name, but there is a famous building there, known as The Golden well.
The ancient Prague edifice is called The Golden well because it is said that gold was seen to burn in the well at the site many centuries earlier. Some sources suggest that it may have been an incident involving Rudolph II´s alchemists, busy in the transmutation of metal.
It has stood there for many centuries, since the Romanesque period. It has a building that Praguers have always valued, and according to legend, it was once haunted by a headless Spanish knight and his wife, who were both murdered there.
The house has a very steep flight of steps, which means that in the past it was not unusual to see deceased inhabitants lowered from the window in their caskets. This reputation is perhaps what inspired Marion Crawford to write his arcane novel The Witch of Prague. In thenovel the wizard Kevork Arabian remarks that "Prague´s streets are as winding as the structure of the human brain"..."
"Formerly a hospital brotherhood, the first Czech order of the crusading Knights of the Cross with the Red Star, founded in 1233 by St. Agnes of Bohemia, the sister of Wenceslas I, settled on the site of the former Church of the Holy Spirit in 1240. The order´s purpose was primarily to offer charitable care, but was also charged by the king with the maintanance of bridges and the charging of bridge tolls.In 1688 their site was engulfed by a new holy edifice proposed in honour of St. Francis of Assissi, destined to become one of the most beautiful Baroque churches in Prague. The layout of the Church of St. Francis is designed in the form of a double cross, and boasts a magnificent cupola and frescoes of the Last Judgment.
On Monday evening the bell at Prague Castle began to toll. Not far away, at the nearly finished Stone Bridge (Charles Bridge), the monastery of the red star burned. The fire leapt from one building to anoter, and when it spread to the nearby hospital, the sudden screams of invalid and immobile patients could be heard in the night,as one by one they succumbed to the flames.
Yet the bell did not toll for them butfor another: Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV (he died in 1378), king of Czech Lands, was dead...Funeral services began twelve days after the emperor´s death, and the following day was noted as the 12th day of December. Twelve knights held the heavens over the emperor´s bier. The funeral procession moved through the city for four days and three nights - accompanied by 144 candle-bearers, provided by the emperor´s son Wenceslas IV."
text - Jiri Kuchar - "Praha esotericka"
The Royal Route is an ancient route connecting The King's Court (today the Municipal House stands in its place) and the Prague Castle. Royal coronation processions of Czech kings passed by to the St Vitus Cathedral as did the foreign countries envoys. The route led from the Powder Tower through Celetná Street to the Old Town Square, across Malé náměstí, continuing to Karlova Street and Křižovnické náměstí, then on the Charles Bridge to Mostecká Street and the Lesser Town Square. From its corner behind the church of St Nicholas up to the Nerudova Street and Pohořelec, then it descends from Loretánská Street to Hradčanské náměstí towards the western gate to the Prague Castle.
The most important historical monuments can be seen when following this route.
