Inside the Square

For my final weekend of travel in Europe I decided to explore the city of Prague. Prague is a very unique city with its diverse architecture and people. The Old Town Square brings all of the locals and tourists together due to its historical and current significance. This square is a common place for celebrations and with the world cup going on it was an unbelievable experience. In the square there was one huge television which showed the games throughout the course of the day. One could get a sense of the peoples cultural identities based on the teams they cheered for and against.
Apart from the current significance of the Old Town Square as a common gathering place, one can really get a sense of history from the surrounding art and architecture. The three main structures in the square are the Tyne Cathedral, St. Nicholas Church, and Astronomical clock. The Tyne Cathedral along with many houses surrounding the area has more of a gothic appearance, while the St. Nicholas Church is a baroque style. Many of the houses and structures in this area have gothic styles due to Prague being the capital of the Holy Roman Empire in the middle ages. The basement and first floor of many buildings were gothic but then added onto years later using different forms of architecture. Along with the amazing architecture there is also a memorial located in the center of the square. At first I was unaware of the significance of the memorial until we took a tour of the city. The memorial had been built in 1915 in order to honor the 500 year anniversary of Jan Hus. The people throughout Prague had always been under the oppression of many different regimes, but Jan Hus stands as a symbol of strength against these groups. Although at the time Jan Hus stood against the oppression of the Catholic Church, the symbol of the memorial had taken on many different meanings throughout the years. Such as since World War one the statue has symbolized anti-soviet rule and later anti-communism.
The people of Prague still recognize Jan Hus as one of the most important Czech nationalists to this day. I felt that it was very interesting that one statue of this man who died around 500 years ago was still valued and helped the people get through years of oppression. The statue was built and paid for completely by donations of the public so one can understand the importance it has to nationalism in Prague.
The Old Town Square was a very interesting place to visit due to all of the excitement in the area. There are now many cafes, souvenir shops and restaurants spread throughout the square because it is one of the main tourist destinations of Prague. I had never seen so much diversity of architecture in Europe until traveling to the Old Town Square. It was amazing how much of the gothic and baroque style buildings survived throughout everything Prague had been through in the world wars. Although the Old Town Square has undergone many changes throughout the centuries, it has still preserved its historical origins.

http://www.prague.net/old-town-square
http://www.prague.cz/old-town-square/
http://www.pragueholiday.cz/old-town-square.php