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Charles Bridge
Total distance: 0.6 km, Updated: about 1 year ago
Dominating the Křižovnické náměstí (Knights of the Cross Square) is the Church of St Francis with the Monastery of the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star. This was the only Order of Czech origin and began as a hospitaller brotherhood in 1234. It became an independent Order in 1237 and 15 years later it gained its own emblem - a cross with a red star. The main mission of the Order, which provided many Prague archbishops, was to perform hospitaller duties and at the beginning, because of its location, also the care of the stone Judith Bridge (1252-1342). Part of this bridge is now hidden under the facade of that corner of the building which protrudes above the river.
The baroque church with a huge brick cupola covered in copper plate was built by the architect Domenico Canevalle after designs by Jan Baptiste Mathey in 1679-1689 on the site of an older church. In the interior let us allow ourselves to contemplate the fresco “The Last Judgement” by Václav Vavřinec Reiner and the painting “The Stigmata of St Francis” by Jan Krištof Liška on the main altar.
At the corner of the church next to Křižovnická Street, stands a statue of St Wenceslas the patron saint of wine makers on a “wine pillar” decorated with twining tendrils of grape-vines. The pillar originally stood, directly on the square in front of the house No. 193/1, which used to be the offices of the manager of the Prague vineyards. Several red paving stones under the pillar are the original paving transferred here from Judith's Bridge. They are possibly the oldest paving stones on which we can walk in Prague.
Opposite the Old Town Bridge Tower stands the Church of St Salvátor which belongs to a group of buildings forming the oldest Czech Jesuit College - the Klementinum. It was built between the second half of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century and it conceals a paradox which aptly characterises the work of the Jesuit Order in Bohemia: in the crypt under the church is buried not only Father Koniáš “the destroyer of Czech books” but also “the defender of the Czech language” — Bohuslav Balbín.
The rich sculptural decoration of the facade is not accidental and it creates a sense of unity with the decoration of Charles Bridge. It is as if Christ himself in the centre, the evangelists at the sides and lower down the Holy Popes, the religious fathers and bishops were blessing a procession, which comes out of the Jesuit College, passes the line-up of the saints on the bridge and goes as far as the Small Quarter Jesuit College by the St Nicholas Church, where it is welcomed by more saints placed on the facade of that church.
In the square stands a bronze statue of Charles IV cast in Nuremburg and unveiled here in 1848 to commemorate the 500 year anniversary of the founding of Prague Charles University. To accommodate the statue the river here between the first arch of the bridge and the Monastery of the Knights of the Cross, had to be covered over and from then on it was no longer apparent that the Old Town Bridge Tower stands on the first pier of the bridge.
The most striking feature of the Knights of the Cross Square, is the Staroměstská mostecká věž (The Old Town Bridge Tower) possibly the most beautiful of its kind in Europe. It was built in 1380 by the builder of The St Vítus Cathedral, Peter Parléř, but the decoration of it continued even later. In the spirit of the mediaeval way of thinking it was secured against inclement weather and the passage of time not only by good quality construction but also by a magical trap: on the side of the tower was placed a latin inscription
SIGNATESIGNATEMEREMETANGISETANGIS.
The inscription reads the same backwards as well as forwards and freely translated it means : “Note, note and watch out, if you touch me you will perish.” It is a warning to the wind and lightening and perhaps even to demons, who would have to spin in a magical circle and be unable to hurt the Tower.
The significance of the Bridge Tower lies mainly in its decoration. In the Middle Ages, at a time of great illiteracy, people were more receptive to symbols and quickly understood the connections, which we must take time to decipher. The Tower celebrated the Luxembourg dynasty and also hinted at the main concepts of Charles IV's political strategy. It was in fact the symbolic entrance gate into the Czech kingdom, which connected with an interesting astronomical idea : the patron saint of the Bridge was St Vítus, whose symbol is the sun. Therefore it is not by chance that the hypothetical line connecting the Tower and St Vítus Cathedral (more precisely the place in the Cathedral where the altar of St Vítus is placed) points directly to the sunset at the summer solstice, which during the Middle Ages fell just on the day of this saint.
The decoration of the Tower itself represents the mediaeval theory of a universe divided into several spheres. The nearest to us is the Earthly sphere, extending from the level of the road as far as the decorated corbels of the Gothic arch. Humanity is characterised by frantic activity, transience (exemplified by today's tourists) and also by human imperfections and sin. That is uniquely hinted at in the decoration of the corbels. Captured there from left to right are an old woman and a young student represented as lovers, a lion voraciously grasping a haunch of meat, an eagle seizing a hare and a monk and a nun as an amorous couple. After sin must come punishment in other words a fall into the sphere of Hell, symbolised by the prison located in the pier of the bridge.
The other spheres are not reached by mere mortals. The sphere of the Moon is symbolised by the Gothic arch of the Tower. It is decorated with 28 crabs (striated rosettes) corresponding to the 28 days of the lunar cycle. The emblems of the countries over which the Luxembourgs reigned are above the arch arranged so that the heraldic lions and eagles stand opposite each other. It was hinting at the connection between the Czech kingdom (whose emblem is a lion) with the Holy Roman Empire (whose emblem is a spread-eagle). Next is the sphere of the Sun. The sides of the triangle which forms it, are decorated with 24 crabs (the hours of the day), with 12 on each side as the months in the year and the signs of the zodiac. The statues of the seated monarchs Charles IV and Wenceslas IV are outstanding works of Gothic sculpture from around 1380. Here the monarchs, in their majesty, are lifted out of the earthly sphere directly into the presence of the saints; in the centre between them stands St Vítus the patron saint of the Bridge, the Holy Roman Empire and the Czech kingdom. Finallly we have the sphere of the stars decorated with the statues of the Czech patron saints - St Vojtěch and St Zikmund. By their feet originally lay a lion with a gilded head. On the saint's day of St Vítus the glinting reflection from the lion's head fell on the wing of the heraldic eagle under the cornice. In this way the symbolic connection was shown between the elements of the Czech coat of arms, the St Wenceslas spread-eagle, with the new emblem of the Czech lion.
The stairs at the side of the Tower lead to the upper floors with beautiful views of the Bridge and Prague Castle. The stairs end with a grotesque figure of a tower warden from the middle of the 15th century, lifting his skirts to answer the call of nature. Inside the Tower's passage way we notice at the beginning, a stone groove where the portcullis was lowered. Noteworthy is the Parléř net vaulting decorated with figures of female bathing attendants in semi-transparent robes. Unfortunately the other side of the tower is nearly devoid of decoration because it was destroyed during the Thirty Years War.
From history we will note just two events. On the Tower between between 1621-1631, 12 heads of Czech noblemen executed in the Old Town Square, were exhibited in metal cages. In 1648 a battle raged between the Prague citizens, led by the Jesuit Jindřich Plachý and the Swedes who were trying to fight their way from the occupied Small Quarter across the Bridge and into the Old Town. A panorama of the battle is depicted in the Petřín mirror maze.
Karlův Most (Charles Bridge) was built close to the site of the Judith Bridge, (demolished by floods in 1342 it started slightly lower, down-river, and ended at the same place as Charles Bridge). We know exactly when the foundation stone to Charles Bridge was laid : 9th July 1357 at 5.31 p.m. This accuracy is important - if we write the numbers next to each other (1357 9.7.5.31), we get a numeric line of odd numbers of 1 to 9 and back. The Middle Ages did not find certainty in the transience of this world but in the orderliness of heaven, which according to the old, Pythagorean system could be expressed even in numbers, existing eternally in the mind of God. In this way the lasting strength of the Bridge was to be secured.
The builder however also safeguarded the Bridge in other ways just to make sure: it was not just a legend that eggs, milk and wine were added to the mortar. Chemical analysis has shown that the mortar of the Bridge really contains proteins which increased the hardness of the mixture. Despite all this effort however the Bridge was damaged by the floods a few times. After the flood of 1784 it was so weak that the carriageway had to be covered with manure, to prevent jolting, and in 1890 two arches were even pulled down. Out of interest we can note that a toll used to be collected on the Bridge, and not only for goods but for brides as well - first of all 72 hellers and later 1 groschen.
On the Bridge which is 520 m long and 9.5 metre wide, our attention is first engaged by the gallery of 30 statues. Most of them date from the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries, some (mainly of lower quality) are from the middle of the 19th century. The walk through this “alleyway of saints” will be supplemented with brief information. (L is Left, R is right):
1st pier: On top of this stands the Old Town Bridge Tower.
2nd pier L: St Ivo (St Ives) the patron saint of lawyers, offers help to a poor widow with children. Next to them the allegorical figure of justice has covered eyes, in order to judge impartially. The artist was Matyáš Bernard Braun (1711).
R: The Madonna with St Bernard. Here are depicted the attributes of Christ's suffering - a hint of a pillar where he was scourged, the hammer, the pliers, the nails, the dice with which the soldiers gambled for his robe, the cockerel which crowed when St Peter denied him. The artist is Matěj Václav Jäckel (1709).
3rd pier L: St Alžběta (St Elizabeth), patron saint of bakers, the poor and sick, St Barbora, patron saint of the dying, miners and metal founders, St Markéta (St Margaret) the safekeeper of the harvest and protector against birth pains. The sculptors were Michal Jan Josef Brokoff and Ferdinand Maximilián Brokoff (1707).
R: The Virgin Mary with St Dominic and St Thomas. A dog with a torch in his mouth is the symbol of St Dominic and the Dominican Order. A hive with bees indicates the diligence of St Thomas. The artist was Matěj Václav Jäckel. (1708).
4th pier L: Pieta (The mourning of Christ). Artist Emanuel Max (1859). Originally this was a place of execution for the Old Town, from where dishonest bakers and butchers were dropped in a basket into the water.
R: Calvary (Crucifiction). A bronze statue cast in 1629 in Dresden, bought by the painter Karel Škréta and in 1657 put in place on the Bridge. A gilded Hebrew inscription celebrating Christ was paid for out of a fine imposed on a Jew who had mocked the Cross. A cross has been sited here since the 14th century. There are other statues to the side - artist Emanuel Max (1861).
5th pier L: St. Josef, patron saint of carpenters - stands on a wooden beam. The artist is Josef Max (1854).
R: St Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary, grandmother of Jesus, patron saint of married women and miners. Artist Matěj Václav Jäckel (1707).
6th pier L: St Francis Xavier, a second general of the Jesuit Order christening an Indian nobleman. He stands on a baldachin carried by an Indian, a Tartar, a Chinaman and a Moor. The page with a book is a self portrait of the artist Ferdinand Maximilián Brokoff (1711-1712).
R: St Cyril and St Methodius. The most recent statue on the Bridge. The artist Karel Dvořák (1928), set it on the Bridge in 1938. Originally a statue of St Ignatius Loyola stood here, the founder and the first general of the Jesuit order. In 1890 during the floods it was hurled into the river, and today it is deposited in the lapidarium of the National Museum. Artist Ferdinand Maximilián Brokoff (1711).
7th Pier L: St Christopher, patron saint of swimmers, porters and in recent times also of motorists, is carrying baby Jesus on his shoulder across the river. Artist Emanuel Max (1857). Previously there was a military guard house here.
R: St John the Baptist. Sculptor Josef Max (1855). On the parapet between this and the next statue is a marble plaque in which a metal cross is inlaid. It marks the place where St John of Nepomuk was hurled into the water.
8th pier L: St Francis Borgia, third general of the Order of the Jesuits. He was an eminent aristocrat, who entered the Order as a result of the death of Queen Isabella and after the death of his family - therefore his symbol is a skull. The artist was Ferdinand Maximilián Brokoff (1710).
R: The Patron Saints of Bohemia : St Norbert, the founder of the Premonstratensian Order, buried in the Strahov Monastery, St Zikmund, a Burgundian King whose crown was used in the coronation of Charles IV, and St Wenceslas, prince of Bohemia. The artist was Josef Max (1853).
9th pier L: St Ludmila is teaching St Wenceslas to read from the Scriptures. In her left hand she is holding the veil with which she was strangled. The workshop of Matyáš Bernard Braun around 1730.
R: St John of Nepomuk, nowadays the longest surviving statue on the Bridge. A wooden model based on a sketch by Viennese sculptor Rauchmüller was created by Jan Brokoff, originally from Spiš. According to legend during work on this statue he was converted from a protestant to a Catholic. It was cast in bronze by J.W. Heroldt in Nuremburg. The reliefs depict scenes from the life of St John of Nepomuk. The statue became a prototype for many Nepomuks placed all over Bohemia and also abroad, frequently on bridges of which St John was the patron saint.
10th pier L: St Francis of Assisi. Sculptor Emanuel Max (1855). Donated by Francis Count Kolowrat-Libštejn to commemorate the saving of the Emperor Franz Josef I from assassination in 1854.
R: St Anthony of Padua, patron saint of the sick, the invalids and the bakers as well as a helper in finding lost articles. A fiery preacher. The sculptor is Jan Oldřich Mayer(1707).
11th pier L: St Vincent of Ferrara and St Prokopius. Vincent is bringing a corpse back to life which is rising from a coffin, St Prokopius an abbot of the Sázava Monastery is using the devil as a plough. Artist Ferdinand Maximilian Brokoff (1712).
Below the double statue on the ridge of the bridge pier, is a statue of Bruncvík by Ludvík Šimek from 1884. A statue armed with a sword used to stand here even before and symbolised the Old Town's claim to the Bridge. To make sure the Small Quarter citizens would not forget it, the statue was placed close to their embankment.
R: St Jude Thadeus, an Apostle, a helper in hopeless causes. He is holding the club with which he was knocked down. The artist was Jan Oldřich Mayer (1708).
12th pier L: St Nicholas of Tolentino offering bread to the poor. Sculptor Jan Bedřich Kohl (1708). Behind the statue a flight of steps leads down to Kampa. The steps were built at the end of the 18th century, apparently from the remains of the Chapel of Corpus Christi on Charles Square and the Bethlehem Chapel. Until then the residents of Kampa, whose duty it was to repair the bridge, had to shin up ladders.
R: St Augustine, a religious teacher whose heart was suffused with faith. He stands not very tolerantly on the books of the heretics whose doctrines he vehemently disputed. The artist was Jan Bedřich Kohl (1708).
13th pier L: St Luitgarde, a blind Cistercian nun who had a vision that Christ was leaning down from the Cross towards her. This is the most poignant sight on the Bridge. The artist Matyáš Bernard Braun (1710) was inspired by the painting of his older friend Petr Brandl. The painting hangs in the Church of the Virgin Mary in Sedlec near Kutná Hora.
R: St Cajetanus, founder of the Order of Theatins. The artist was Ferdinand Maximilián Brokoff (1709). Behind the statue to the right is a view of the so called “Prague Venice”, formed by houses along the Čertovka tributary.
14th pier L: St Vojtěch (St Adalbert) blesses the Czech lands on his return from Rome. Artist Ferdinand Maximilián Brokoff (1709). Behind the statue on the left is a view of the Čertovka River with the mill of the Grand Prior.
R: St Filip Benicius. The Papal tiara at his feet reminds us that this saint declined the Papal office. It is the only stone statue on the Bridge, not made of sandstone but Salzburg marble. The sculptor was Michael Bedřich Mandel (1714).
15th pier L: St John of Matha and St Felix of Valois, who were members of the Trinitarian Order, with St Ivan the hermit. The Trinitarians concerned themselves with, among other activities, ransoming Christians from Turkish captivity. Therefore in the base a prison is hewn out, guarded by a Turk. The stag is the symbol of all three saints. Artist Ferdinand Maximilián Brokoff (1714). On the plinth the name of his father John, the owner of the workshop is displayed.
R: St Vítus with a cockerel in his hand, patron saint of early rising and young people. According to legend he was thrown into a pit with lions, who miraculously became tame. The artist was Ferdinand Maximilián Brokoff (1714).
16th pier L: St Wenceslas. Artist Josef Kamil Böhm (1858).
R: Christ the Saviour (Healer) with St Kosmas and St Damian, patron saints of doctors and pharmacists. Artist Jan Oldřich Mayer (1709).
Behind the group statue we can see the Renaissance gables of the house U tří pštrosů (At the three Ostriches) in the street U lužického semináře (No. 76/1). It was decorated with a painting in 1606 by Jan Fuchs, “Fedrsmukr to his imperial highness” otherwise a wigmaker, who used to sell ostrich feathers as the latest word in fashion. In 1714 an Armenian Deodatus Damajan opened here what was probably the first coffee house in Prague.
Before us rises up the Malostranská mostecká brána (The Lesser Town Bridge Gate) with two towers. The smaller one comes from the fortification of the demolished Judith Bridge and preserves on its facade a splendid Romanesque relief - an enthroned ruler with kneeling figures. We reach it through the passage to the balcony of house No. 56/1. The taller tower was built in 1464 and repaired in the 19th century. From its top is an interesting view over the Lesser Town and back along Charles Bridge. We realise that it bends twice, as it was avoiding the remains of the Judith Bridge and that in fact a whole third of its length stands above land on the Small Quarter side. With this view we complete our tour of Charles Bridge.
External Links
- Charles Bridge Photos on ArchFoto.cz