So my Mom asked if I had any pictures from on the Charles Bridge and of the statues that line it, so here they are (so take note, I do take requests!)
A view of the bridge from the Old Town tower. The bridge was commissioned by Charles IV in 1357 and was the only crossing point over the
Vltava until 1741. While it is now open only to foot traffic it used to be able to hold four carriages abreast (it's amazing what you can learn when you read the guidebooks cover to cover). Due to concerns about their preservation, most of the statues have been replaced with replicas.
Reliefs on the statue of St John
Nepomuk (never heard of him? yeah, me neither, and I'm a Religious Studies major!) show how he was
martyred by being tortured and then thrown off the bridge by the orders of Wenceslas IV. The dog is polished by people touching him for good luck, the same has happened on the relief on the other side where people touch the figure that is being thrown off the bridge.
Statue of St Barbara, St Margaret and St Elizabeth from 1707.
A view along the bridge to the Old Town bridge
tower that was built
by Peter Parler at the end of the 14'
th century. Even during the off season the bridge was swarmed with tourists like ourselves and vendors selling
jewelry, pictures of Prague, and caricature artists.
St John of
Nepomuk himself, statue from 1683 (I think he knows that his future looks grim)
A view of the bridge from the Old Town tower. The bridge was commissioned by Charles IV in 1357 and was the only crossing point over the Vltava until 1741. While it is now open only to foot traffic it used to be able to hold four carriages abreast (it's amazing what you can learn when you read the guidebooks cover to cover). Due to concerns about their preservation, most of the statues have been replaced with replicas.
Reliefs on the statue of St John Nepomuk (never heard of him? yeah, me neither, and I'm a Religious Studies major!) show how he was martyred by being tortured and then thrown off the bridge by the orders of Wenceslas IV. The dog is polished by people touching him for good luck, the same has happened on the relief on the other side where people touch the figure that is being thrown off the bridge.
Statue of St Barbara, St Margaret and St Elizabeth from 1707.
A view along the bridge to the Old Town bridge tower that was built by Peter Parler at the end of the 14'th century. Even during the off season the bridge was swarmed with tourists like ourselves and vendors selling jewelry, pictures of Prague, and caricature artists.
St John of Nepomuk himself, statue from 1683 (I think he knows that his future looks grim)
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