Praha does like its churches. You can't walk for probably more than five minutes in any direction without running into some form of a church or chapel. One of the more prominent churches, whose dome and clock tower can be seen from most places in Praha, is Chrám svatého Mikuláše (Church of St. Nicholas) in the Malá Strana (Little Quarter) district on the left (west) bank of the Vltava River.
The Church of St. Nicholas is just up the street from McDonalds and the Museum of Medieval Torture Instruments, which are both in the same building. You can insert your own joke here.
Construction of the church began in the early 1700's and lasted until 1752. It's quite amazing that it didn't take longer from what you can see in the pictures below. It was built on the location of the Parish Church of St. Nicholas which was built in 1283.
Maybe it's just me, but is it really healthy to devote THIS much time, effort, and money to any one thing? Was that thunder I just heard??
Below is the other end of the cathedral spectrum the Rotunda Svatého Martina (St. Martin's Rotunda) located in the Vyšehrad district back on the east side of the river. It is considered to be one of the oldest buildings in Praha. It was originally built in 1070 -- yes, ten-seventy -- and was probably built on the site of a chapel that was built a century before that. In addition to its chapel duties it was also used as a powder magazine in the 1700's. The chapel was rebuilt in the 19th century. Of course the stones they used were probably millions of years old, so really it's practically brand new as far as the rocks are concerned.
2018-02-08