Thursday Doors: Prague
Prague, The Czech Republic
Prague is an architect’s dream! You can’t just take a picture of a door here without getting the scope of the entire building! What beauty! It is quite the tourist destination so many photos will also feature Tourists! I took these photos before I got into the habit of getting up early to take photos before the tourists arrived!
Prague, The Czech Republic
Prague, The Czech Republic
Prague, The Czech Republic
Prague, The Czech Republic
Prague, The Czech Republic
Prague, The Czech Republic
Prague, The Czech Republic
Prague, The Czech Republic
Prague is a blend of old and new. This pink building is a motorcycle shop!
Prague, The Czech Republic
Prague, The Czech Republic
Prague, The Czech Republic
Prague, The Czech Republic
Prague, The Czech Republic
Prague is a place of many doorways to another doorway! And I love all the cobbled, tiny streets! This was the way to our hotel…….
Prague, The Czech Republic
And this was the door to the hotel!
Prague, The Czech Republic
And there is a door on the famous Prague Astronomical Clock!
The Astronomical Clock, Prague, Czech Republic
The medieval astronomical clock can be found in Old Town Square. Legend says Hanus, the clockmaker, made the clock that was so admired by everyone, but he refused to show anyone how it was made. When he decided to build an even better clock the city officials became jealous and blinded him so he could not finish the clock. He then damaged the astronomical clock in revenge, and no-one was able to repair it.
The Real history of the clock is this. In 1961 an old document was found which described the clock and said it was made by Mikulas of Kadan in 1410. It was repaired and improved over the centuries, but eventually it was so faulty, it was mostly not working at all, and by 1780 it stopped working altogether. In 1865 major repairs were made to the clock and in 1945 the clock was damaged heavily during the war. After the war the clock was repaired and the striking of the clock was changed from Old Czech Time to the Central European Time.
The wooden figures of the apostles appear in the windows every hour and some of the other sculptures move. Death holds an hourglass, vanity is a man with a mirror, Miserliness is a man with a moneybag. There is also an astronomer, chronicler, philosopher and angel. When the apostles finish their journey, the golden rooster crows and flaps his wings, the bell rings, and the clock strikes the hour.
The Astronomical Dial shows the medieval perception of the Universe: the Earth is the center. The blue part of the dial represents the sky above the horizon, the brown part the sky below it.
There are three circles on the dial showing different times. The outer circle shows Italian time and the inner circle shows “Babylonian Time,” the length of an hour differs there according to season……longer in summer and shorter in winter. This clock is the only one in the world that measures it. The little star by the zodiac ring shows the fixed stars.
The newest part of the clock is the Calendar Dial. There is the Prague Old Town symbol in the centre. The rotary outer circle describes every single day of the year, and the current date is indicated at the top. There are also medallions with zodiac signs and pictures depicting every month. Wow, this is quite the clock!
This is just one of many photos in the Thursday Door Collection featured by Norm2.0! Won’t you join in or take a peak at all the doors?
The Travel Lady In Her Shoes 
16 Responses to “Thursday Doors: Prague”
I have been to Prague, but some time ago now. It was very touristy even then, but not as bad as now I suspect. The information about the clock was very interesting.
Thanks Annette! What have you been up too?
We have been round the world visiting family, first Calgary, a quick stop in San Francisco and then Japan. It was good seeing everyone but rather exhausting too.
Yes that is a lot of traveling! But also good to see family!
That clock is magnificent, and I prefer the lore to the true story, of course! Amazing beauty.
All of your photos are lovely here, but I just about fell in love with the one awash in yellow and green. WOW.
I know I liked the lore story too and I could very well believe it! That skinny lime green house was my favorite!
You have excellent taste!
I’ve heard nothing but wonderful tings about Prague as a tourist destination and now I can certainly see why. May one day….
And my oh my that clock!
Great post 🙂
Thanks Norm, I also LOVED riding the old fashioned trams everywhere! You know the ones with electricity! Prague is wonderful!
Oh gosh,just wonderful, I definitely want the two statues in the first photo next to my front door!!!
Can you imagine?
Lovely photos, and Prague really is so full of interesting buildings, no matter what part of it you are in.
Yes that is true!
Stupendous. Really must visit Prague – been on my list for far too long.
Nice post! We visited Prague in 2013 and it was a great place for photography but I didn’t focus on door shots then (might have a few shots of doors in my archives); you have a nice collection and I recall walking past those areas.
I’ve never been to Prague, but I see I’ve been missing a beautiful city. Thanks for sharing all the photos of the gorgeous buildings and doors. As for the tourists, I can understand why they’re there. 🙂
janet