Charles Bridge to Malá Strana

The Old Town Bridge Tower is the gothic gatehouse anchored at the eastern end of the Charles Bridge. Its dark, sandstone facade bristles with stone statues of saints and former kings, all carved during the fourteenth century. Emperor…

The Charles Bridge spans the Vltava River with sixteen stone arches and two defensive towers guarding its entrance. King Charles the Fourth commissioned the structure in thirteen fifty-seven to replace a bridge destroyed by ice. Legend…

The Lesser Town Bridge Tower stands at the west end of the Charles Bridge, recognizable by its two distinct towers connected by a narrow gate. Built in the mid-fifteenth century, the shorter tower is the older remnant of the Judith Bridge,…

The narrow Certovka stream separates Kampa Island from the rest of Mala Strana, creating a quiet wedge of land in the middle of the Vltava River. It began as a series of small, reclaimed garden plots, but in the sixteenth century, the…

The Lennon Wall in the Mala Strana district is a solid stone barrier covered in overlapping layers of spray-painted lyrics, portraits, and messages. Since the nineteen eighties, this wall served as a quiet space for dissent against the…

The Vrtba Garden climbs the steep slope of Petrin Hill in a series of three narrow, manicured terraces. It was built for Jan Josef, the Count of Vrtba, in the seventeen twenties. The architect Frantisek Maximilian Kanka designed the space…

The copper dome and the bell tower of Saint Nicholas Church dominate the skyline of the Lesser Town. This building stands as the most famous example of Prague Baroque, designed by Christoph Dientzenhofer and finished by his son Kilian…

The Waldstein Garden stretches out behind a high, rust-colored wall, marked by a massive, three-story loggia with cavernous arches. Albrecht von Wallenstein built this space in the sixteen twenties to demonstrate his power as a newly…