Astronomical clock - Where have you seen one? How many have you seen? I've seen one in Greenwich Royal Observatory, London. But when I saw this in Prague - I was just too flabbergasted! The Clock Tower in Prague has an Astronomical Clock and its a part of the Old Town Hall. The clock is in public display, however to view its function, one has to get into the Old Town Hall guided tour. So, that's where we went first.
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The first room of the Old Town Hall tour is ofcourse the Chapel of the Virgin Mary which has the interiors of the astronomical clock. So yeah, every tour starts 5 minutes before every hour and this is the first room of the tour and the first thing you see is how the astronomical clock functions from inside! Though it was originally built in 1481, this was renovated several times till 1857. The current statue at the altar is a new one after the original one was lost during the revolutions. In front of the altar are 2 neo-gothic wooden statues of St.Anne and St.Joseph of 1887.
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The clock - the fabulous astronomical clock dates back to 1410 and has been functioning till date! The wooden figures of the 12 apostles were re-carved in 1945 after damage. From here, you can see a perfect close-up of the wooden figures and as they move as the clock strikes every hour.
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The next huge room was the Municipal Hall followed by the Old Council hall. The Old Council has a wooden statue of Christ, the sufferer of 15th C CE and He's looking at Mayor's seat and the words 'Judge Justly, sons of man' as if telling the court to judge wisely. Sadly, the windows of this room also served as one of the defenestration windows (windows through with Protestent nobles, flung Catholic religious people that began the thrity years war in early 17th C CE)!
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Next room is the Antechamber to Assembly Hall which is a fabulous door with inlay work dating back to 1619! Also here are 2 fabulous paintings by Vaclav Brozik. Next was the Brozik assembly hall. It was originally used for Prague Council, however now its used for official events under Mayor.
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The next is the George Hall. This is really amusing because, Bohemian King George of the then Poděbrady (part of Czech) in 15th C, proposed a union among the other European Countries to protect them from Ottomon empire. But none responded positively! But then, today, they are the European Union indeed! To celebrate him, there is a sculpture of him the European Parliament in Brussels!
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This room also has some amazing historic frescoes that's majorly gone. It looks like it was made when it was built in 12-14th C CE. Unfortunately we will never know who made it or when was it made because during the communist regime, one of the harsh things done to the people was to erase their history and they lost several books & documents from the town hall!!! Its for us to just see and perhaps in future, with scientific advancement or if other document about this was unearthed elsewhere, we will know!
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Then came my favourite part of the building - the oldest part - the Romanseque cellars of 12th C CE. They were originally 2-6m underground. During 13th C CE, original ground floors became cellars. Originally there were more than 70 such houses under the current street! Today what we see is 2 of such houses maintained in almost its original state. A part of this also served as a execution area for death penalty criminals. Here are also some old weapons that served to kill people.
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Next to this is the Gothic cellars. There are quite a few Gothic houses which are interconnected today for us to see. The original doors were so tiny & little, that kind-of served the purpose to making every visitor bow down to the host!
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From here a lift is available to go atop the tower and the view from atop was indeed splendid. Then we were back down for the clock to strike the hour. Here's the thing - I was at a vantage point on the street, not too close, not too far away. I'm not too tall as well. Beside me were quite a few Asians who weren't tall either. All of us where ready with out cameras and phones in video mode. And suddenly, almost at the time, a very tall couple come and stand right in front of us blocking the view for quite a few! We had to re-shuffle in the last minute to get a decent view. When you visit, don't be that person!!! If you're blessed by nature/God with height, use it and stand behind shorter people!!!
To Stay:
Hotel at all price points are available in Prague.
Check out my review of Hotel Kinsky Garden where I stayed.
To Get There:
To the Ticket office from Prague Railway Station: 4km
On Google Maps: Old Town Hall
Entry Tickets & Timings:
Mon - 11AM - 10PM; Tue-Sun - 9AM - 10PM;
Regular ticket: 250 CZK
Town Hall Pass: 350 CZK (incl. 2 tower climbs, and New Town Hall visit)
Can be bought online at their official website
Mon - 11AM - 10PM; Tue-Sun - 9AM - 10PM;
Regular ticket: 250 CZK
Town Hall Pass: 350 CZK (incl. 2 tower climbs, and New Town Hall visit)
Can be bought online at their official website
My entire Prague travelogue: Street Art & Installations, Prague Castle, Old Town Hall & Astronomical Clock, Historic Centre of Prague, Vysehrad
P.S: I was invited to Old Town Hall & Tower by Prague Tourism Department to experience the monument for review purposes, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.
P.S: I was invited to Old Town Hall & Tower by Prague Tourism Department to experience the monument for review purposes, however the opinions are my own and this post does not to advertise the product/service.