CHARLES BRIDGE- Czech Republic

Published February 7, 2014

Graceful Prague Castle has spanned the Vltava River for over 600 years. View over Mala Strana or Little Quarter of Prague.

CHARLES BRIDGE QUICK FACTS

Location: Prague, Czech Republic
River: Vltava
Built: 1357-1402
Length: 621 metres
Style: Sandstone Gothic Arch Bridge

Prague is one of Europe’s most mesmerising cities with numerous sights and historic locations to visit including the domineering Prague Castle. Divided by the meandering Vltava River, historic Charles Bridge (Karluv Most) provided the only crossing in Prague for over 400 years.

Named for the king who commissioned the bridge, Charles Bridge is bedecked by30 statues of religious saints including St Vitus whose relics sits in the cathedral of the same name that overlooks the bridge (replicas replace the originals which sit in a Prague museum).

Legend dictates that the bridge construction was commenced at exactly 5:31am on 9 July, 1357, the superstitious King believing that the numeric sequence of 1357 9 7 5:31 would imbue his bridge with additional strength and longevity. After 600 years maybe there is more to the King’s deep-seated belief in numerology than modern science would have us believe (though a fair amount of replacement and reconstruction has occurred over the centuries)!

The lights of Charles Bridge and Prague Castle glimmer in the Vltava in the night

While the pedestrian-only bridge is packed with people during the day, Charles Bridge has an eerie charm in the dawn silence and provides the foreground for a superb vista with the imposing Prague Castle at night.