The capacious and prestigious – Charles Bridge
Charles Bridge in the city of Prague has become a national symbol for the Czech Republic. Known also as Karluv most, was built over the Viltava River, in 1357, although there was an earlier bridge which collapsed during a flood. Charles Bridge is not just a tourist attraction, it’s the main pedestrian route linking the Old Town with Mala Strana, and then onto Prague Castle itself.
From 1683 to 1928 thirty sculptures and sculptural groups of the saints were gradually set on the bridge piers. The bridge is 515 meters long and 10 meters wide, resting on 16 arches shielded by ice guards. The bridge is decorated by a continuous alley of 30 statues and statuaries, most of them baroque-style, erected around 1700. Most of original statues on the bridge were erected between the 17th and 18th centuries. They depict saints and patron saints. The statues seen today on the Charles Bridge are replicas. The originals were removed to protect them from The statue of St. John of Nepomuk, erected in 1683, was the first of the bridge’s Baroque sculptural adornments as much as it was a solemn representation of the country’s new patron saint, worshiped throughout the world. It was based on Viennese sculptor Matthias Rauchmiller‘s terracotta model, which Jan Brokof rendered in wood. After this, Wolf H. Herold in Nuremburg cast the statue in bronze.
During the day, artists, tourists, musicians, painters and vendors line up the stone walkways of the bridge. Honeymooners and tourists alike would enjoy a moonlit stroll on the bridge with the view of the magnificent Prague castle in the background.
