What to see in Prague in a day: main locations

A colorful city with a long history shrouded in legends of vampires and alchemists. Narrow streets, small stone houses and bustling squares. OBOZREVATEL has prepared a selection of the main Prague sights that you can see in a day.

Vysehrad

The oldest district of Prague was once founded by the son of Bohemia, Crock, and served as home to many Czech princes. Here you can see the Church of Saints Peter and Paul. According to legend, the sarcophagus of the soldier who pierced the body of Christ on Calvary is located in the church. However, in reality, one of the representatives of the Przemyslovych dynasty is buried here.

The Vysehrad Museum and St. Martyna's Rotunda, the oldest Romanesque building in the city, are located very close to the church. Gunpowder used to be stored here. Now the entrance to the building is closed to tourists.

Prague Loreta

The history of this landmark is very interesting. It is said that once upon a time a lady named Katerina lived in the city. And she was such a believer that she decided to build a copy of the Virgin Mary's house in Prague, which is located in Loreto, Italy.

And so she did. She invited an architect who built the shrine of marble and placed a silver altar in it. Today, the sculpture of the Virgin Mary standing in the room is credited with miraculous properties, and pilgrims from all over Europe come to the Prague Loreto itself.

Strahov Monastery

It was built back in 1140. For a long time, the monastery served as a fortification that protected Prague Castle from enemies. The building was seriously damaged during each war. Several times there were fires here, and the shrine had to be repaired many times. In the 18th century, they wanted to close it. However, local monks formed one of the largest libraries in the city. This saved the church. Nowadays, unique old books are kept here, and access to them is controlled as strictly as possible because they are priceless.

The Golden Street

Today it is hard to imagine that people actually lived on this narrow street with dwarf houses. However, there are suspicions that it looked quite different at the time. Local alchemists, members of the watchmen, artists, and all kinds of poor people lived in the small, almost fairy-tale-like huts at different times. Franz Kafka spent several years here, and there is a museum in his honor. Nowadays, the street has become a tourist attraction filled with souvenir shops and coffee shops.

Prague's chimes

The famous astronomical clock adorns the wall of the City Hall. Tourists line up to see it with their own eyes. There is a legend that the city authorities deprived the author of this landmark, Hanusz, of his sight so that he could no longer repeat his work. In revenge, the man jumped from the tower onto the mechanism. As a result, the clock stopped for almost a century. Today we see a restored version of the monument, which was restored after the Second World War. The clock is almost entirely made up of original parts, and the mechanism itself has remained almost unchanged.