Prague: Old Towne

Astronomical Clock

The Towh Hall aquired its first clock at the beginning of the 15th century. In 1490, when it was rebuilt by a master clockmaker called Hanus, the councillors are said to have be so anxious to prevent him from recreating his masterpiece elsewhere, that they blinded the poor man. Though it has been repaired many times since, the mechanisim of the clock we see today was perfected by Jan Taborsky between 1552 and 1572.

The Clockmaker's view of the universe has the Earth fixed firmly at the centre. The pupropse of the clock was not to tell you the exact time but to imitate the supposed orbits of the sun and moon about the Earth. The hand with the sun, which points to the hour in fact records three different kinds of time. The outer ring of medieval Arabic numerals measures Old Bohemian time, in which a day of 24 hours was reckoned from the setting of the sun. The ring of Roman numerals indicates time as we know it. The blue part of the dial represents the visible part of the sky. This is divided into 12 parts. In so-called Babylonian time, the period of daylight was divided into 12 hours, which would vary in length from summer to winter.

The clock also shows the movement of the sun and the moon throughthe 12 signs of the zodiac, which were of great importance in 16th centure Prague.

Saint Nicholas Church

There has been a church here since the 12th century. It was the Old Town's parish church and meeting place until Tyn Church was completed in the 14th century. After the Battle of the White Mountain in 1620 the church became part of a Benedictine monastery. The present church by Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer was complete in 1735. Its dramatic white facade is studded with statues by Antonin Braun.

When in 1781 Emperor Joseph II closed all monasteries not engages in socially useful activities, the church was stripped bare. In World War I the church was used by the troops or Prague's garrison. The colonel in charge took the opportunity to restore the church with the help of artists who might otherwise have been sent to the front. The dome has frescoes of the lives of St. Nicholas and St. Benedict by Kosmas Damian Asam. In the nave is a huge crown-shaped chandelier. At the end of the war, the church of St. Nicholas was given to the Czechoslovak Hussite Church. Concerts are given now in the church during the summer.

Church of Our Lady Before Tyn

Dominating the Old Town Square are the maginificant multiple steeples of this historic church. The present Gothic church was started in 1365 and sson became associated with the reform movement in Bohemia. From the early 15th century until 1620 Tyn was the main Hussite church in Prague. The Hussite King, George of Podebrady, took Utraquist communion here and had a gold chalice - the Utraquist symbol - mounted on the facade. After 1621 the chalice was melted down to become part of the statue of the Madonna that replaced it.

On the northern side of the church is a beautiful entrance portal decorated with scenes of Christ's passion. The dark interior has some notable features, includng Gothic sculptures of Calvary, a pewter font (1414) and a 15th century Gothic pulpit. Behind the church is the Tyn Courtyard, with its numerous architectural styles.