The Prague Castle, Part 1
On our third day in the Czech Republic, we visited Prague Castle. Since we weren't exactly sure how many times we would have to use public transport in the city that day, Marc and I decided to buy the day pass at the I.P. Pavlova Metro station after breakfast. Once done, we went back to the street opposite the Viennese cafe we frequented for our morning bruch and took the tram to the castle. I was so nervous about pickpockets on the 22 line we took given all the reviews we read from Tripadvisor on the internet and even from our Frommer's Guide book. Thank goodness the tram wasn't full when we first boarded. Both Marc and I were able to sit comfortably and enjoy the scenery. Shortly thereafter, however, the tram began to pick up more and more tourists headed to the same destination we were.
The tram ride was a good 20 -30 minutes from Wenceslas Square where our IBIS Hotel was. Upon arrival at Prague Castle, large crowds had already gathered in and around the area. Some tourists belonging to packaged tours were even done with their visit and were already reboarding their bus. It took time to get into the castle because of the long lines.
Once we got our tickets, we decided to walk around the tiny town first where the castle was. We had the whole day at our disposal and we didn't want to rush. It was good we did since we were able to visit other important sights of the city we would have otherwise missed had we gone straight into the castle and its buildings.
Right outside the first castle courtyard was the Archbishop's Palace.
A closer view of the Archbishop's Palace
The sign on the Archbishop's Palace in Czeck. So far many if not all of the buildings we had taken pictures of so far had a plaque or sign on one of their walls for our verification and labeling. Thank goodness.
The Schwarzenberg Palace
Another view of the Schwarzenberg Palace
What makes Schwarzenberg Palace stand out is the design on its outer walls. Just take a look.
How intricate!
The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The site of this government building was quite imposing and looked like a palace. It might have well been in the past. It was located right across The Loreta.
The plaque on the site of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Loreta. Called so because it is said to be a fairly exact copy of a building called the Holy House in the Italian town of Loreta
The main facade of the Loreta. It is said that on the picturesque tower above the entrance facade of the Loreta is the famous Loretan glockenspiel, the work of Prague watchmaker Petr Naumann. Altogether it has 27 bells of various sizes, which were cast by Klaudius Fromm in Amsterdam in 1694.
From the Loreta, we returned to the first courtyard of Prague Castle to watch the Changing of the Guard.
The Prague Castle and its first courtyard. It was here in this area where the changing of the guards took place at 12 noon.
Look at the number of tourists!
At Prague Castle
Marc at Prague Castle
This group of Czech singers and musicians stood outside the Prague Castle grounds singing and playing traditional Czech music all day long. They were fabulous singers and their songs were simply divine to hear.
Just a few steps from the first courtyard of Prague Castle is a vista point from where one can get a view of the city. This is what we found.
This was taken from the same vista point but aimed at another area of Prague.
The following were the statues on pedestals that stood guard on the gate of the first courtyard of Prague Castle called the Gate of Giants
This is the main entrance to the Prague Castle
If my memory serves me right the Changing of the Guards took around 15-20 minutes. It seemed longer because we had to stake our spot in the courtyard before the ceremony actually took place. The whole ceremony seemed slow and quiet though. As usual the crowd was thick.
All the guards came out of this door.
This guard with the drum stood right above the side door of the Prague Castle where all the other guards involved in the ceremony came out of. He was accompanied by other guards to his left and right with other musical instruments like horns and trumpets to signal the beginning and end of the program.
The ceremony began as soon as the guards came walking out of the side door of the castle.
The ceremony ends.
One of the two guards by the entrance of Prague Castle. Just like in many castles and palaces the world over, these guards stood straight and tall while on duty. No smiles or any facial expression here folks.
Once the Changing of the Guards was over, Marc and I began to use our tickets and visited the nine sites we were told we could visit within the castle grounds. Of the nine, St. Vitus Cathedral was the first on the list and off we went to see its interior and nave.
Meanwhile here is how the facade of the massive cathedral looked.
The weather changed from sunny to gray and then back to sunny to gray all thoughout the day we were at Prague's Castle. The crowds were thick when it was sunny but gee how everyone disappeared quickly once it drizzled.
This is how St.Vitus Cathedral looked from the side
A closer view of a side tower
A mosaic of the Last Judgement on the cathedral's Golden Gate
The line to enter St. Vitus Cathedral reminded me of the lines in Disneyland. They seemed endless. It was good that it really didn't take as long to get inside. At first, I thought the cathedral was really packed. It turned out the crowd was really thick only by the main entrance since many tourists had no tickets to wander around and explore the cathedral past a certain velvet rope. This was what we saw as soon as we entered the cathedral. We thought the whole place was going to be this crowded and packed all throughout. Not the case, people.
Many tourists just stayed by the very entrance. A majority didn't purchase the tickets that would allow them to tour the entire cathedral. You can see them just right behind the pews. There was a velvet rope that separated the ticket holders from the onlookers.
The stained glass windows
The rosette of the western facade
The ubiquitous confessionals inside Catholic churches and cathedrals
I remember the first time I went to a confessional in Spain where I had to kneel face to face with the priest. I hesitated at first. All my life up until I left Manila for Madrid, I had gone to church and confessed in churches where anonymity was provided for. I did overcome this Spanish practice and soon didn't care at all as I went for my regular confessions. In fact, I got to like it. It felt like talking to a shrink. I remember waiting for long periods of time as some elderly people did take their time talking to the priests and their confessions took as long as thirty minutes. Just imagine if you were in a line, there were 4 people in front of you, and you had to wait this length of time for every person who wanted to confess their sins to a priest. Thank goodness that didn't happen since in reality very few people in Spain went to church even up to now. I actually had the place all to myself most of the time.
The religious icons
Other impressive sights within the cathedral
The huge long curtains that hung over this altar simply looked spectacular. It was so dramatic.
The pulpit from where priests usually preached the sermon
The church organ
A closer view of the organ
The Chapel of St. Wenceslas, patron saint and eternal ruler of all Czech Lands
The altar inside the Chapel of St. Wenceslas
Still inside the Chapel of St. Wenceslas
We saw this coat of arms inside the cathedral. It was gilded and it looked very elegant.
Another courtyard on the grounds of Prague Castle
The Prague Castle grounds was big indeed. It took a while to explore St. Vitus Cathedral and it was past noon when we left to explore the other sights. There was no complaining here though. It's not everyday we find ourselves in Prague or Eastern Europe and we were just so glad to be there.