Prague.....Part 4 (the Castle)

Hello friends! I can hardly believe it's been four weeks since I arrived in Prague and three weeks since I returned home. The older I get, the faster time flies! Today I am sharing pictures from my visit to Prague Castle. It was absolutely spectacular! Here's what the Prague Castle website has to say about it. 

Prague Castle was most likely founded in around 880 by Prince Bořivoj of the Premyslid Dynasty (Přemyslovci). According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Prague Castle is the largest coherent castle complex in the world, with an area of almost 70,000 m². A UNESCO World Heritage site, it consists of a large-scale composition of palaces and ecclesiastical buildings of various architectural styles, from the remains of Romanesque-style buildings from the 10th century through Gothic modifications of the 14th century. The famous Slovenian architect Josip Plečnik was responsible for extensive renovations in the time of the First Republic (1918-1938). Since the Velvet Revolution, Prague Castle has undergone significant and ongoing repairs and reconstructions.

We took a bus tour of Prague one of the days we were there and the castle was included in this tour. It was a gloomy day so the pictures are a little dark. This was the first good glimpse of the castle driving up.

We were fortunate enough to get to see the changing of the castle guards and I even got it on video, but unfortunately I can't upload it here. It was really neat. After we got inside the gates, we saw this group marching by with their instruments.

There are many different styles of buildings that make up the castle. They are all lovely. 

Here's an overview of the city from the castle grounds.

There were two of these beautiful wood and gold flag poles in the courtyard flanking the entrance to another part of the castle. They were the most unique and beautiful flag poles I have ever seen.

Here was a glimpse of the Gothic style part of the castle through this archway.

This is Saint Vitus Cathedral on the castle grounds. 

Is it just me or do you also think this is just amazing?

This detail of this style of architecture amazes me! 

And just look at the inside!

I was blown away by the magnificence of this gorgeous old cathedral.

The ceilings were so high!

The stained glass windows were enormous and so beautiful. I loved the simple Christmas trees with handmade paper ornaments throughout the cathedral. The juxtaposition of these simple, paper ornaments against the ancient architecture was too beautiful not to capture.

Here's my beautiful Miranda enjoying seeing the inside with me. She had only walked around the outside of the castle as it had been closed the other times she tried to visit. 

This area was roped off. That's why it looks empty. There were wall to wall people inside!

Here's another outside shot of the clock tower part of the cathedral. There are other cathedrals on the castle site but this is the only one we were able to tour. Many parts of the castle are not open to the public due to the president living there.

So pretty!

This beautiful golden mosaic is called The Last 

Judgement and depicts the ascension to heaven on the right side and descension to hell on the left. You can read more about it here if you are interested.

One last shot which includes another pretty Christmas tree as well as the roof tops of a small Christmas Market on the castle grounds. Prague is truly an enchanting city. I am so very happy I was able to go at Christmas time.

I'll be sharing a few more posts about my trip over the next couple weeks, but I am hoping to share my guest bathroom reveal tomorrow. I am excited to share it with you all! I hope you are enjoying your weekend and staying warm. It has been so cold here in Florida! Today we even had snow flurries! I didn't see it snowing because I was at a bridal shower for my niece. It was a lot of fun! Have a blessed and beautiful Sunday.

Until next time,