The Charles Bridge (Karlův Most in Czech) is a stone bridge that crosses the Vltava River between Prague’s Old Town (on the east side) and Little Quarter (on the west). It’s 1,692 feet long and about 31 feet wide. It’s been restricted to foot traffic only since a repair project that took place between 1965 and 1978. The bridge is the oldest in Prague by far, having been built between 1357 and 1402. Since prehistoric times, this part of the Vltava was routinely crossed using fords, a factor contributing to the founding of the city in this location. In the early years, at least one wooden bridge was built to cross the river in this approximate spot. The first stone bridge built here was built between 1158 and 1172 at the direction of King Vladislav II. This bridge was called the Judith Bridge, named after Vladislav’s wife. It was located slightly to the north of today’s Charles Bridge, and served Prague for many years. However, it was destroyed by a flood in 1342, creating a need for a new bridge. In 1355, the Bohemian King Charles IV became Holy Roman Emperor, a position that undoubtedly made it easier to command the building of a new bridge. Charles himself laid the first stone in 1357. The bridge is now named after Charles, though it wasn’t officially named as such until 1870 (before this it was called “Stone Bridge” or “Prague Bridge”). The bridge soon became a major crossing point for trade routes in this part of Europe.

The bridge, built mainly of sandstone, has suffered damage on many occasions. One such occasion happened in 1648, and marked the end of the Thirty Years’ War (if you’ve read the Prague Castle page, you may remember that 1618’s Defenestration of Prague triggered its start). In summer of 1648, three Swedish armies targeted Prague, and didn’t have too much trouble occupying its west bank, including Prague Castle and the Little Quarter. They spent some time looting the treasures they found, including an art collection belonging to Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II (much of which remains in Sweden to this day), but eventually attentions were directed toward the Old Town, on the east bank. As you can see from the map below, the only way to get to the Old Town was by crossing the Charles Bridge. By this time the Old Town had put together a defensive force, mainly composed of students from the University of Prague, and some intense fighting took place on the bridge during the month of October. On October 24, the Peace of Westphalia was signed, ending the Thirty Years’ War. But this happened in Westphalia, over in northwestern Germany, so the combatants in Prague didn’t find out until a week later, during which they continued fighting. On November 1, when the Swedes found out the war was over, they stopped fighting and eventually moved on to Sweden, taking their booty with them.

But damage caused to the Charles Bridge as a result of warfare pales in comparison to damage wrought by nature. During the centuries when the bridge was the only bridge in the area, there was always a danger of floating debris getting backed up against it. In the winter, this debris could take the form of ice floes, which needed to be broken up so they could flow through the arches under the bridge. But times of flood have been more damaging, as floating trees and wreckage from upstream was not as easy to break up, and it could pile up into mountains of flotsam that would cause substantial damage to the bridge. This has happened several times over the bridge’s life, and wooden structures have been constructed upstream of the bridge which appear to be designed to break up or redirect these assaults on the bridge’s integrity. The structures have apparently been effective, as there hasn’t been any massive damage to the bridge in recent years. Still, structural problems are often discovered, and bridge renovation to correct them is an ongoing process.


When we left off in the last page, we were at the St. James Church, east of Old Town Square. Getting to the Charles Bridge involved going back through Old Town Square, and then through a neighborhood which was densely populated by some interesting old buildings.

Emerging from this neighborhood and approaching the bridge, we found this statue of Charles IV.

At both ends of the bridge there are towers guarding the approaches to the bridge. The tower at the Old Town end was first built in the 14th Century. If you’ve been reading some of the earlier Prague pages, you may recall a mass execution in 1621 of several members of the nobility who led a short-lived rebellion against the Holy Roman Empire (which turned into the Thirty Years’ War). Following the executions in Old Town Square, the heads of 12 of the leaders were hung from the bridge tower at the Old Town end, as a warning to others who might get similar ideas (the heads disappeared mysteriously after being on display for ten years). In 1648, the tower suffered considerable damage in the fighting with the Swedes described above and had to be extensively repaired. It’s been renovated multiple times since then and acquired its present appearance in the 19th Century.

We passed through the archway at the base of the tower and found ourselves on the Charles Bridge. Just upstream from this end of the bridge there was a clump of buildings jutting out into the river that comprise the Bedřich Smetana Museum. Bedřich Smetana was a 19th Century composer who some consider the father of Czech music. At a time when German was the official language in Bohemia, he developed operas in Czech, at the same time that he was developing a unique musical style (influenced by Liszt and Wagner) that came to be associated with the region. We were not familiar with his work, so we didn’t visit this museum. Maybe next time.

Directing our attention to the bridge itself, we found it to be very crowded with tourists and vendors of various kinds. Also with positions staked out on the bridge were musicians providing entertainment for the throngs (and hoping to cell CDs of their music for reasonable prices).


Finding some areas with a little elbow room, we found that fine views were to be had from the bridge.



Lining the railings of the bridge are several Baroque statues, mostly of saints. The original statues were added to the bridge between 1683 and 1714. The ones on the bridge now are 20th Century copies, with the originals having been moved to the National Museum for their protection.



On approaching the west end of the bridge, we found nice views of the Little Quarter and Prague Castle.


Among the statues on the bridge are representations of St. John of Nepomuk, a priest who was thrown from the bridge and drowned in 1393 when he refused to divulge the content of the confession of the Bohemian queen. St. John is buried in an elaborate tomb in St. Vitus Cathedral. It’s considered good luck to rub certain parts of bronze reliefs appearing on some of the statues – these parts are easy to find, as they’ve been worn shiny. I’m not sure where the good luck is supposed to come from – the saint doesn’t appear to have been overburdened with it.


The west end of the bridge has a tower of its own (or rather two connected towers, to be precise). We passed through this tower and entered the Little Quarter.


By this time, we were ready for lunch, and we found a bistro across the street from the St. Nicholas Church we’d visited the day before. We both ordered a Czech version of goulash.

From here we returned to our hotel and took a short rest. Or rather I took a short rest, while Nella took one that was more prolonged. I’d been interested in taking a closer look at some of the city’s architecture, and I went out for a walk to see what I could find.