Date: 19th August 2023
Travelled: 0 kms in Prague
Visited: Prague
Stayed: Autocamp Hayek, โฌ30, N50.11730, E14.42890
Budget: 89 days @ โฌ90 per day
Looks like another hot day in Prague, so we make an early start. Same tram starts our journey, but we change to a #25 at Strussmayerova. This takes us up the hill to the back entrance to Prague Castle and saves a lot of walking up the hill from the Old Town.
We pay our โฌ5 pp entry fee and join the throng.
Once into the Castle complex we find the Saint Vitas Cathedral. Its foundation were laid in 1344 for the next 600 years attempts were made to complete it but it was not consecrated until 1929. The Cathedral is massive, but its exterior stone is blackened by pollution and age.
We thought the interior a little austere only the individual chapels having any decoration.
Soon enough we move on to Prague Castle/Palace. We were a little underwhelmed. We follow the crowd through 2-3 largely empty rooms.
We continue on the Chapel of Ludmila in the Basilica of Saint George.
After reading the extensive blurb on Saint Ludmila whose remains were entombed in the Basilica in 925 we wait and wander only to find you cannot see the tomb which is situated in a small chapel on the right of the altar. Its all about the dogma, the mystery of Saint Ludmila.
To escape the Castle we need to run the gauntlet of tat shops and walk through the gardens which do provide some nice views of the Old Town.
Our next stop is some 300 metres outside the Castle walls, the Loreta. Itโs a pilgrimage site, I can only describe it as a series of churches and chapels that form a courtyard. The centre of the courtyard houses a replica of the Santa Casa (the home of the Virgin Mary). While the Loreta or Santa Casa looks Roman itโs 17th century.
All that Catholicism is beyond us Iโm afraid. The surrounding complex is now a museum dedicated to the Saints. By the time weโve done the ground floor where sainted out, there is a Saint for just about anything.
The Church of Nativity of Our Lord stands directly behind the Santa Casa, its baroque ornamentation mixed with religious murals keeps the eyes busy.
We finally find ourselves back at the Charles Bridge after 7 kms of wandering Prague, luckily much of it downhill. Itโs 32ยฐ and time for a very late lunch and a drink.
If you only had a day in Prague we would probably give the Castle a miss, but thatโs just our opinion.
It was a long lunch as we had no plans other than catching a hot tram back to the campsite. Back at the Hymer we manage a nap before chatting with our NZ neighbours Cheryl and Brett.
That was our day.
Michael + Pam
One thought on “Prague (2), Czechia ๐จ๐ฟ 2023”
So after visiting every church in Europe you are finally Sainted out!