Charles Bridge
Prague's most familiar monument, connects the Old Town with the Little Quarter. Although it is no pedestrianized, at one time it could take four carriages abreast. Today, due to wear and tear, many of the statues on the bridge are copies; the originals are kept in the Lapidarium of the National Museum and at Vysehrad. The Gothic Old Town Bridge Tower is one of the finest buildings of its king in existstence.
Until 1741, Charles Bridge was the only crossing over the Vltava. It is 520m (1,760 ft) long and is build of sandstone blocks, rumored to be strengthened by mixing mortar with eggs. The bridge was commissioned by Charles IV in 1357 to replace the Judith Bridge and built by Peter Parler. The bridge's original decoration was a simple corss. The first statue - of St. John Nepomuk was added in 1684, inspired by Bernini's sculptures on Rome's Pont SantAngelo.
In the last hours of the the Thirty Years' War the Old Town was saved from the Swedish army. The truce was signed in the middle of the bridge in 1648.
