The Charles Bridge

The bridge is the link between Prague Castle and Old Town . Through the bridge led the so-called " Royal Road " (and now runs the Prague Marathon ). Many key events in the history of the city are connected with the bridge. For example, in 1420, the bridge helped the Hussites enter the Malaya Strana , and in 1648, from this bridge, the Swedes who captured and plundered Grad and Mala Strana , attacked the right bank of the Old City.

Judithin Bridge

Judithin Bridge, the forerunner of Charles Bridge, was built and completed in 1172, during the time of Vladislav II and his wife, Queen Jutta of Thuringia. The bridge was used at the beginning of the reign of Charles IV , but already then, due to the trade, public and construction expansion, there was a need for a more modern bridge. In 1342, Judith Bridge was almost completely destroyed during the flood. The remains of one of its arches are located in the basement of the house on Luzhitskaya Seminary Street, 82 ( Mala Strana ). ^[one]

New Bridge

The new bridge was conceived by Charles IV . They built it almost in the same place as Juditin. Remnants of Judith Bridge can be seen at the base of the pylon on which the Old Town Tower stands. Construction of the bridge lasted from 1357 until the beginning of the XV century . It was entrusted to Peter Parler . The bridge tower on the Old Town shore was built by architects from the workshop of Peter Parléř about 1380 .

According to the legend, ^{[2] [3]} according to the research of the Czech historian and astronomer , ^{[4] [5] the} first stone was laid by Charles IV on 9.7.1357 at 5:31 in the morning. This date and time were chosen on the recommendation of astrologers. If we write the numbers in the following way: 1 3 5 7 (year) 9 (day) 7 (month) 5 (hour) 3 1 (minutes), we will first get an ascending and then a descending series of odd numbers ( palindrome ) ^[6] .

At that time, magical figures were very important. The bridge that had been laid at that moment had to stand for centuries.

According to legend, it was from Charles Bridge that Saint John of Nepomuk, revered in the Czech Republic, was dropped into the bag. In the very place where the body of the saint plunged into the Vltava, they allegedly saw a glow in the form of 5 stars above the water; since then, Jan of Nepomuk is depicted with five stars above his head. The place, near which Yana was dumped over the railing, can be seen on the right hand on the way towards Mala Strana , this place is marked by a cross embedded in the railing of the bridge and two copper nails near the cross.

The catastrophic flood that occurred in Prague from 2 to 5 September 1890 seriously damaged the Charles Bridge. A large number of logs and other floating debris, washed away by upstream flooding, stuck in the bridge spans, forming a natural dam. From the enormous pressure of the three flights and two pillars of the bridge collapsed. The restoration work lasted two years, the bridge was reopened on November 19, 1892.

Until 1908, there was a horse race on the Charles Bridge. In 1905, it was electrified, after which a tram with a bottom power supply passed through it. This route was filmed in 1908.

The Eastern Bridge Tower is a passage from the bridge in Stare Mesto and is therefore called the Old Town. The tower is located on the intermediate rather than the end support, that is, directly above the water. The height of the building is about 47 meters above the bridge level. On the south side there is a staircase leading to the internal premises of the building. The tower is decorated with figural plastic of a high artistic level, the coat of arms of the lands of the Holy Roman Empire ; over the gate, placed in the pointed arch, are images of the kingfisher . The sculptures depicting St. Vitus (the patron saint of the bridge), Charles IV and Wenceslas IV are on the second floor. The sculptures of the patrons of the Czech lands - Saint Vojtech and Saint Sigismund are located at the very top. Mesh arches in the passage of the western tower also deserve attention. The tower is completed by a high roof with a characteristic saddle shape and bay windows with pointed spiers at the corners ^[7] .

When in 1648 Prague was besieged by the Swedes , the sculptures that richly decorated the portal of the tower facing the City were destroyed. During the revolutionary uprisings of 1848, a barricade was arranged at the gates of the Old Town Bridge Tower .

The western towers of the bridge were built at different times. The lower and more powerful was originally Romanesque, after 1591 rebuilt in the Renaissance style. During the reign of King George of Podebrad ( 1464 ), a second, higher tower was laid. In style and architectural details, it resembles the Old Town, at the opposite end of the bridge, which was built by architects from the workshop of Peter Parler and which probably served as a model. Under King Wenceslas IV , gates were built between the towers. Until the sculptures were installed on the bridge, the towers at both ends were his only decoration.

During the Baroque period , the bridge was decorated with a unique gallery of sculptures created by the best masters of the time: Matias B. Brown , Jan Brokoff and his sons Brokoff, Michal and Ferdinant Maximilian . There are 30 sculptures and sculptural groups on the bridge, most of them were installed from 1683 to 1714 . These are mainly exact copies of the originals, which were transferred to the National Museum in the 20th century.

Some of the sculptures and sculptural groups are:

• “Vision of sv. Luitgardy "( 1710 ), whose author was M. Brown, is considered the most beautiful sculptural group installed on the bridge
• The “Crucifixion” group is the oldest sculptural group, dating back to 1657 . The Hebrew inscription contains a tetragrammaton .
• The work of Brokof, depicting a Turk guarding Christians in captivity, was established in 1714 and is considered the most popular sculptural group.
• “The Virgin Mary with the Baby and Saint Anna”, “The Virgin Mary and Saint Thomas Aquinas”, “The Virgin Mary and Saint Bernhard” are works by the sculptor Macia Vyatslav Yakula

Part of the architectural complex of the Charles Bridge is a monumental neo-gothic staircase that leads directly from the bridge to the island of Campo in Vltava. The staircase was built in 1844 instead of the wooden one.

Charles Bridge appears in a variety of films. In the thriller of Brian De Palma's "Mission Impossible" on the Charles Bridge, one of the heroes is killed. In an advertisement for a watch filmed by Tim Burton , the Charles Bridge plays the role of the roof on which the roller heroes fight begins.

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  East Bridge Tower

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  Statue of sv. Jan of Nepomuk on the Charles Bridge

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  Charles Bridge in the morning

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  Charles Bridge in winter

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  Stairs of the Charles Bridge

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  Charles Bridge by day

• Official Museum of Charles Bridge
• Charles Bridge on Structurae