Certovka (Devil’s Stream), Malá Strana, Prague
Informally known as Prague’s Little Venice, Certovka (“Devil’s Stream”) is located in Malá Strana, Prague’s “Lesser Quarter.” In the 16th century, it was called Rosenberg’s ditch/race. Certovka gained its current moniker from the nearby House of the Seven Devils, which romantic guides will tell you is named after a jilted
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Love Padlocks, Certovka, Malá Strana, Prague
Love padlocks began cropping up (or being locked down) in Europe in the early 2000s, particularly at Rome’s Ponte Milvio. Federico Moccia, author of Ho Volgia Di Te (“I Want You”), may be to blame. In the novel, his Italian hero woos a woman by telling her a tall tale. If
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John Lennon Wall, Malá Strana, Prague 1
In the early 1980s, soon after John Lennon’s assassination, an image of him suddenly appeared on a wall opposite the French Embassy in Prague. This was Communist Czechoslovakia, where Western music was banned, pacifist heroes were out of favor and graffiti was not to be tolerated. The image was whitewashed.
St. Peter, Malá Strana, Prague
“I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose
St. Christopher, Charles Bridge, Prague
The patron saint of travelers is carrying Christ on his shoulder. Sculptor: Emanuel Max (1857) Commissioned by Václav Wanek, the portreeve of Prague.
Sts. John of Matha, Felix de Valois and Ivan, Charles Bridge, Prague
The most expensive sculpture on Charles Bridge honors St. John of Matha and Felix de Valois, co-founders of the Trinitarians. Originally, the Trinitarians organized the ransoming of Turkish captives. St. Ivan, patron saint of the Slavs, seems to be there for no particularly good reason. Sculptor: Ferdinand Brokoff (1714) Commissioned
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St. Anne with Madonna and Child, Charles Bridge, Prague
St. Anne with Madonna and Child. Sculptor: Matej Václav Jäckel (1707) Commissioned by Count Rudolf of Lisov, hetman of the New Town of Prague.
St. John of Nepomuk, Charles Bridge, Prague
St. John’s main claim to fame lies in his death on Charles Bridge. According to legend, he was the confessor to the wife of King Wenceslas IV. In 1393, when he refused to reveal Queen Johanna’s secrets, the King bundled him up in a suit of armor and tossed him