"The city of Prague"

Coat of arms

Motto: Praga Caput Rei publicae

Prague was one of the most beautiful European cities since the middle Ages and has had many nicknames as "City of 100 towers", "Heart of the Europe", "Golden Prague". It was a crossroad, where many merchant, artists and scientists met. First mentions about initial inhabitants of Vltava valley goes to very deep history, when Celtic tribes come in 500 BC. First Slavonic tribe had arrived to Bohemia in about 500 AD. Prince Borivoj established the Prague Castle; in 10thcentury fortress Vysehrad was built on the rock upon the Right Bank of the river Vltava. Both fortresses have become very important places of Czech rulers. Prince Wenceslas, which was one of them, was in 935 murdered, later was canonised and then become Bohemian saint patron.

Prague visited many prominent personalities for centuries. Some of them were W.A.Mozart, L. van Beethoven, P.I. ajkovskij, O.Kokoschka, the British Queen Elisabeth II, Pope John Paul II and many others. Writers Jan Neruda, Jaroslav Hasek Jaroslav, Seifert Franz Kafka got inspired by Prague, as their native town, mentioned it in their work.

Prague is a complex of historical monuments and shows all artistic styles. The historical centre of Prague is situated on both banks of the river Vltava. Historical centre consists from the 6 quarters, which once were independent cities and were put together in 18th century. Those are Old Town, Jewish Quarter - Josefov (there is a well preserved part of Old Jewish Town, today part of Old Town), New Town, Little Quarter, Hradcany and Vysehrad. There are cumulated many museums, galleries, and historical buildings. Prague, Main City of the Czech Republic is the most significant city historical reservation. Since 1992 is Prague historical centre put to the list of world culture and nature heritage register UNESCO.

Astronomical Clock – Fantastic 600th anniversary Show ...

Charles IV and his Golden Age ...

During the epoch of the Czech king and emperor Charles IV (1346 - 1378) Prague had flourished. It is said, that Charles IV was very intelligent and educated, therefore lead the Czech land to the top of economic and cultural bloom. Prague was promoted to emperor residence, and political centre of Europe. In the start of his reign, in 1348, founded High school - The Charles university, where came youth of all Europe. He also founded first Student College - Carolinum (1366). Charles IV established the New Town. He appointed Matyas from Arras to conduct the built of cathedral of Saint Vitus in the style of top Gothic, which was finished by Petr Parler. Petr Parler conduct other magnifies buildings such as are Bridge Tower, Tyn church, church of All Saints. Charles was initiator of building of the Charles Bridge, which replaced Judith bridges (swept away by the flood) The Charles Bridge measures 520 meters, had no sculptures in the time of its building and is work of builder Petr Parler. Charles IV founded castle Carlstejn, which is near Prague upon river Berounka and which preserved Crown Jewell and relics collection. Carlstejn castle is also often-visited place.

The National Revival ...

The Austrian hegemony in the Czech was too long, with the result - general decline of the Czech culture and language. In the last quarter of 18th century, during the reign of Maria Teresa, Czech was allowed to re-discover history, culture and language. Maria Teresa started a period of reforms so Czech language become the official one and Czech revivals restored old traditions and culture. In 1784 independent town joined to one unit (The Hradcany, The Lesser Town, The Old Town, and The New Town). Buildings for public were founded such as The National theatre, the National Museum, Rudolpinum. Some famous revivals were J.K.Tyl, (whose song has become the Czech state hymn)F.Palacky (historian), J.Neruda(writer), B.Nemcova, K.Svetla. The National revival was reflected in all areas of life. In the beginning of 20th century the art Nouveau has arrived to Prague, which reflected not only in arts of painting but in architecture. Alfons Mucha is the main representative of the Art of Nouveau. The flourish of the Czech national pride continued till the Czech independence in 1918.

Prague 1918-1989 ...

After the independence and foundation of the Czechoslovac Republic, Dr. Tomas Garrique Masaryk becomes the first Czech President.
1920 The National Assembly carried the first Constitution
1938 Mnichov agreement - Czech had to renounce Soudets
1939 Started World War II, Prague - capital of Nazi Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia
1945 liberation by the American and Soviet army, Dr. Edvard Benes - president
1948 the February putsch seizure power of KSC
1960 foundation of the Czechoslovak socialistic republic
1968 Prague Spring - an attempt to reform socialism, intervention of 5 states of the Warsaw Pact
1989 Velvet revolution, formation of the government of national tolerance, Vaclav Havel elected the president

Charles Bridge 1357-1402 ...

Old Town Square ...

Venceslaw Square ...

National Museum ...

Moldava River View ...

Vyšehrad ...

The Czech Republic: Home of Pilsner

You can’t be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer. - Frank Zappa

The Czech Republic (consisting of Bohemia and Moravia) has played an important role in the development of the type of beer that we commonly drink today. To this day Bohemian beer is revered the world over for its quality and character. Czech consumers certainly give their own beers the thumbs-up.

By all accounts the Czechs drink more beer per capita, overwhelmingly Czech in origin, than any other nation in the world-Germans and Irish included. (The 2004 numbers are: 156.9 liters consumed annually per capita). The Bohemians were pioneers in the development of the pale beers that we commonly refer to as Pilsners-a style that we now associate with pale, well-hopped lagers with crisp carbonation. The name comes from the town of Pilsen in the Czech Republic where this style of beer was first produced early in the 19th century. The popularity of the beer earned it the name "pilsner beer" and the rest is history. Pilsner Urquell, the leading beer in Pilsen, is still one of the most popular Czech beer exports, and a fine benchmark of the style.

The history of Czech beer, or at least Czech beer styles, does not end here. In the latter part of the 19th century a certain American brewery owner named Adolphus Busch was traveling in Bohemia when he tasted and was impressed by the local style of beer in a town named CeskÃ© Budejovice. The beer, better known elsewhere in Europe by the German version of the name of the town, Budweis, was none other than Budweiser Budvar, the original Czech "Bud." It was known in Bohemia as the "Beer of Kings" because King Ferdinand of Bohemia had made it the beer of choice in his royal court in the 16th century. Mr. Busch liked the name and slogan so much that he used variations of both when he returned to his own brewing enterprise in St. Louis. "Budweiser: King of Beers" (the brand and slogan) now belongs, in the U.S. market, to the Missouri-based brewing giant Anheuser-Busch. U.S. consumers, unfortunately, cannot sample the Czech version (so it is not reviewed here) without visiting one of a number of European countries where it is still very popular, and can be legally sold under its own name.

Today, as well as being a major beer exporter, the Czechs still produce the finest hops for pilsner-style lager beers. These hops are imported in volume by large U.S. brewers, even if they are not generally used quite so liberally in the brewing process as by their Czech counterparts. The lack of a huge diversity of beer styles in the Czech Republic should not be taken as a sign of its brewing stagnation. When fresh, Czech Pilsners are among the finest examples of the style to be found in the United States, as most domestic lager producers have never aspired to achieving Czech levels of flavor.