1.
Peter Parler
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Peter Parler was a German-Bohemian architect and sculptor from the Parler family of master builders. Along with his father, Heinrich Parler, he is one of the most prominent, born and apprenticed in the town of Schwäbisch Gmünd, Peter worked at several important late Medieval building sites, including Strasbourg, Cologne, and Nuremberg. After 1356 he lived in Prague, capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia and seat of the Holy Roman Empire, where he created his most famous works, St. Vitus Cathedral, little is known about the earliest youth of Peter Parler. His father, Heinrich Parler the Elder, was a stonemason at Cologne Cathedral, around 1333, when Peter was born, Heinrich was invited by the free imperial city of Schwäbisch Gmünd to take over construction of a large new parish church, Holy Cross Minster. Peter was already working alongside his father on the church when the cornerstone of the choir was laid in 1351 and this is presumably also where his apprenticeship was completed. The division of the choir by a continuous balustrade demonstrates what would become his trademark style, the arched section at the southern portal of the church can also be attributed to Peter. The designs developed by the father and son team at Holy Cross were unique, Peter then set off on the so-called Wandering Years, the Medieval German tradition of working as a travelling craftsman after completing apprenticeship. On these visits he learned the most important concepts of Gothic construction techniques in Central Europe and he visited Cologne, perhaps Paris, and certainly spent time in Strasbourg – precise knowledge of Strasbourg Cathedral can be seen in his subsequent buildings. While working in Cologne he met Druda, daughter of the resident architect Bartholomäus von Hamm and they eventually married and had four children, three sons, of which two went on to become known master builders in their own right, and a daughter. While undocumented, some scholars believe Parler traveled to England during this period, since Peter Parler spent time working at Strasbourg, it is much more likely his knowledge of these methods came from there. In particular, the vaults he designed at St. Vitus Cathedral were most probably modeled after the St. Catherine Chapel of Strasbourg Cathedral. Sometime after 1352 Peter joined the works at the Frauenkirche in Nuremberg as the parlier. The exact date and his role are unclear. The foundations of the church had already laid in 1351 on the initiative of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor. This is reflected in the coats of arms of the Emperor, the seven Prince-electors. Here the first sculptures can be ascribed to Peter, among them a prominent figure of Zacharias. Charles also commissioned the building of Wenzelsburg Castle at Lauf an der Pegnitz, built on the ruins of an older castle, its ambitious architecture can be directly connected to the Parlers and Peter probably worked there as a sculptor. By 1355 their sophisticated style had come to the attention of Charles IV and Peter was called to work in Prague, the year of this appointment is not entirely clear since the documentary inscription in Prague was partially painted over in the 15th century
2.
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
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Charles IV, born Wenceslaus, was a King of Bohemia and the first King of Bohemia to also become Holy Roman Emperor. He was a member of the House of Luxembourg from his fathers side and the House of Přemyslid from his mothers side and he was the eldest son and heir of King John of Bohemia, who died at the Battle of Crécy on 26 August 1346. Charles inherited the County of Luxembourg from his father and was elected king of the Kingdom of Bohemia, on 2 September 1347, Charles was crowned King of Bohemia. On 11 July 1346, the prince-electors chose him as King of the Romans in opposition to Emperor Louis IV, Charles was crowned on 26 November 1346 in Bonn. After his opponent died, he was re-elected in 1349 and crowned King of the Romans, in 1355 he was crowned King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor. With his coronation as King of Burgundy in 1365, he became the ruler of all the kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire. Charles IV was born to King John of the Luxembourg dynasty and he was originally named Wenceslaus, the name of his maternal grandfather, King Wenceslaus II. He chose the name Charles at his confirmation in honor of his uncle, King Charles IV of France and he received French education and was literate and fluent in five languages, Latin, Czech, German, French, and Italian. In 1331 he gained experience of warfare in Italy with his father. At the beginning of 1333, Charles went to Lucca to consolidate his rule there, in an effort to defend the city, Charles founded the nearby fortress and the town of Montecarlo. From 1333 he administered the lands of the Bohemian Crown due to his fathers frequent absence, in 1334, Charles was named Margrave of Moravia, the traditional title for heirs to the throne. Two years later, he assumed the government of Tyrol on behalf of his brother, John Henry, as he had previously promised to be subservient to Clement, he made extensive concessions to the pope in 1347. Confirming the papacy in the possession of vast territories, he promised to annul the acts of Louis against Clement, to no part in Italian affairs. Charles IV was in a weak position in Germany. Owing to the terms of his election, he was referred to as a Priests King. Many bishops and nearly all of the Imperial cities remained loyal to Louis the Bavarian, civil war in Germany was prevented, however, when Louis IV died on 11 October 1347, after suffering a stroke during a bear hunt. Thereafter, Charles faced no direct threat to his claim to the Imperial throne, Charles initially worked to secure his power base. Bohemia had remained untouched by the plague, Prague became his capital, and he rebuilt the city on the model of Paris, establishing the New Town
3.
Prague Castle
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Prague Castle is a castle complex in Prague, Czech Republic, dating from the 9th century. It is the residence of the President of the Czech Republic. The castle was a seat of power for kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman emperors, the Bohemian Crown Jewels are kept within a hidden room inside it. The castle is among the most visited tourist attractions in Prague attracting over 1.8 million visitors annually, the history of the castle began in 870 when its first walled building, the Church of the Virgin Mary, was built. The Basilica of Saint George and the Basilica of St. Vitus were founded under the reign of Vratislaus I, Duke of Bohemia, the first convent in Bohemia was founded in the castle, next to the church of St. George. A Romanesque palace was erected here during the 12th century, King Ottokar II of Bohemia improved fortifications and rebuilt the royal palace for the purposes of representation and housing. In the 14th century, under the reign of Charles IV the royal palace was rebuilt in Gothic style, in place of rotunda and basilica of St. Vitus began building of a vast Gothic church, that were completed almost six centuries later. During the Hussite Wars and the decades, the castle was not inhabited. In 1485, King Ladislaus II Jagello began to rebuild the castle, the massive Vladislav Hall was added to the Royal Palace. New defence towers were built on the north side of the castle. A large fire in 1541 destroyed large parts of the castle, under the Habsburgs, some new buildings in Renaissance style were added. Ferdinand I built the Belvedere as a palace for his wife Anne. Rudolph II used Prague Castle as his main residence and he founded the northern wing of the palace, with the Spanish Hall, where his precious art collections were exhibited. The Second Prague defenestration in 1618 began the Bohemian Revolt, during the subsequent wars, the Castle was damaged and dilapidated. Many works from the collection of Rudolph II were looted by Swedes in 1648, the last major rebuilding of the castle was carried out by Empress Maria Theresa in the second half of the 18th century. Following his abdication in 1848, and the succession of his nephew, Franz Joseph, to the throne, in 1918, the castle became the seat of the president of the new Czechoslovak Republic, T. G. The New Royal Palace and the gardens were renovated by Slovenian architect Jože Plečnik, in this period the St Vitus Cathedral was finished. Renovations continued in 1936 under Plečniks successor Pavel Janák, during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia in World War II, Prague Castle became the headquarters of Reinhard Heydrich, the Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia
4.
Old Town (Prague)
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See other places named Staré Město. The Old Town of Prague is a settlement of Prague. It was separated from the outside by a moat and wall. The moat is now covered up by the streets Revoluční, Na Příkopě and it is now part of Prague 1. Notable places in the Old Town include the Old New Synagogue, Old Town Square, the Old Town is surrounded by the New Town of Prague. Across the river Vltava connected by the Charles Bridge is the Lesser Town of Prague, the former Jewish Town is located in the northwest corner of Old Town heading towards the Vltava. From its early existence, around the 9th century, Staré Město was laid out of settlements which appeared from the marketplace on the bank of Vltava. Records dating back to 1100 AD indicate that every Saturday a market was held on the marketplace, thanks to trade the merchants of the area became rich, and when King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia gave them the privileges of township, the Town of Prague was formed. According to ancient records, the city had around 13 gates, in the mid-14th century the importance of the Old Town of Prague increased rapidly. The city was prospering thanks to the development of trade and craftsmanship and its brilliance and fame still further increased when the Bohemian king Charles IV became the Roman Emperor in 1355. Quite suddenly the attention of all medieval Europe was turned towards Prague, the original town hall was extended by a mighty square stone tower, a symbol of the power and pride of the town council of the first city in the Kingdom and Empire. In 1364 when it was completed the tower was the highest in the city, after the city was expanded in the 14th century by Charles IV with the founding of the New Town of Prague, the moat and wall were dismantled. In 1348 the University of Prague was founded by Charles IV, since the late 14th century its main seat has been in Carolinum located in the Old Town of Prague. In 1357 Charles IV commenced building of a new bridge over the Vltava river connecting the Old Town with the Lesser Town of Prague, in 1391 the Bethlehem Chapel was built in the Old Town for sermons in Czech language. The chapel played an important role in the Bohemian Reformation and Hussite movement, in 1402–1413 the church reformer Jan Hus preached there. In 1689 a great fire damaged a big part of the Old Town, in 1784 the four towns of Prague were united into the Royal Capital City of Prague with a common administration. File, Charles Bridge, Vltava River, Prague,2015. jpg|thumb|Charles Bridge, Vltava River, Prague,2015
5.
Stone Bridge (Regensburg)
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The Stone Bridge also known as the Dettlinger Bridge (in Regensburg, Germany, is a 12th-century bridge across the Danube linking the Old Town with Stadtamhof. For more than 800 years, until the 1930s, it was the only bridge across the river. It is a masterwork of medieval construction and an emblem of the city, the south end of the bridge may have been the location of an ancient city gate. The early 16th-century Amberg Salt Store and the early 17th-century Regensburg Salt Store were built against it, further east is the Regensburg Museum of Danube Shipping. The bridge has caused problems for traffic on the Danube. It causes strong currents which required upstream shipping with insufficient power to be towed past it until 1916, since modern barge traffic requires more clearance than the arches of the bridge provide, this stretch of the river is now only used by recreational and excursion shipping. The Stone Bridge was built in eleven years, probably in 1135–46. Louis VII of France and his army used it to cross the Danube on their way to the Second Crusade and it remained the only bridge across the Danube at Regensburg for about 800 years, until the construction of the Nibelungen Bridge. For centuries it was the bridge over the river between Ulm and Vienna, making Regensburg into a major centre of trade and government. The bridge originally had its own administration, using a seal depicting it, the Stone Bridge is an arch bridge with 16 arches. At the south end, the first arch and first pier were incorporated into the Regensburg Salt Store when it was built in 1616–20, an archaeological investigation was performed in 2009, and revealed fire damage during the Middle Ages. The bridge was originally 336 metres long, the building in of the first pier reduced it to 308.7 metres. The southern, Old Town end of the bridge is half a metre lower than the northern, Stadtamhof end, construction of the bridge was made easier by an unusually hot, dry summer in 1135, which caused very low water levels in the Danube. Some of the piers are on the two islands in the Danube within the city, the Upper and Lower Wöhrd. The others rest on foundations of oak logs on the riverbed, to protect them from being undermined by the river, they are surrounded by pillar-shaped artificial islands or abutments, these were enlarged in 1687. Five of them were reduced in size in 1848 as part of construction of the Ludwig Canal, the construction using abutments is a modification of the technique used by the Romans for the bridge over the Mosel at Trier, where the piers rest directly on the riverbed. Watermills were built at the end of the bridge, making use of the currents it created. The Bavarians had them burnt in 1633 during the Thirty Years War, some were rebuilt in 1655, one was rebuilt at the foot of the Salt Store for a few more years
6.
Regensburg
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Regensburg is a city in south-east Germany, situated at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. With over 140,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the fourth-largest city in the State of Bavaria after Munich, the city is the political, economic and cultural centre of Eastern Bavaria and the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate. The medieval centre of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in 2014, Regensburg was among the top sights and travel attractions in Germany. Generally known in English as Ratisbon until well into the twentieth century, the first settlements in Regensburg date from the Stone Age. The Celtic name Radasbona was the oldest given to a settlement near the present city, around AD90, the Romans built a fort there. In 179, a new Roman fort Castra Regina was built for Legio III Italica during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. It is believed that as early as in late Roman times the city was the seat of a bishop, from the early 6th century, Regensburg was the seat of a ruling family known as the Agilolfings. From about 530 to the first half of the 13th century, Regensburg remained an important city during the reign of Charlemagne. After the partition of the Carolingian Empire in 843, the city became the seat of the Eastern Frankish ruler, two years later, fourteen Bohemian princes came to Regensburg to receive baptism there. This was the point of Christianization of the Czechs. These events had a impact on the cultural history of the Czech lands, as they were consequently part of the Roman Catholic. A memorial plate at St Johns Church was unveiled a few years ago, commemorating the incident in the Czech, on 8 December 899 Arnulf of Carinthia, descendant of Charlemagne, died at Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany. In 800 AD the city had 23,000 inhabitants and by 1000 AD this had almost doubled to 40,000 people. In 1096, on the way to the First Crusade, Peter the Hermit led a mob of Crusaders that attempted to force the conversion of the Jews of Regensburg. Between 1135 and 1146, the Stone Bridge across the Danube was built at Regensburg and this bridge opened major international trade routes between northern Europe and Venice, and this began Regensburgs golden age as a residence of wealthy trading families. Regensburg became the centre of southern Germany and was celebrated for its gold work. In 1245 Regensburg became a Free Imperial City and was a centre before the shifting of trade routes in the late Middle Ages. At the end of the 15th century in 1486, Regensburg became part of the Duchy of Bavaria, the city adopted the Protestant Reformation in 1542 and its Town Council remained entirely Lutheran
7.
Bridge tower
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A bridge tower was a type of fortified tower built on a bridge. They were typically built in the period up to modern times as part of a city or town wall or castle. There is usually a tower at both ends of the bridge and these towers were built in pre-medieval and medieval times to guard access to the bridge and to enable the charging of tolls on important roads crossing rivers, usually near towns and cities. The rivers were part of the defences of these settlements. As a result, it was important from a perspective that the bridges did not allow attacking enemies to break in. The bridges acted as a bulwark and often had a small drawbridge, in addition to their genuine protective and defensive functions they also played a symbolic and architectural role. Often these towers were the first public buildings that the travellers saw when approaching the city, the high cost of such towers was usually paid for by charging tolls. The gates of bridge towers were closed at night, so that no-one could cross the bridge during silent hours, le Pont Vieux at Orthez, France. The Wasserturm, part of the Kapellbrücke complex in Lucerne, Switzerland, the Monnow Gate on the Monnow Bridge at Monmouth, Wales The bridge tower at Warkworth Bridge in Warkworth, Northumberland, England Tower Bridge in London, England. The actual function of these towers is to support a high-level walkway, description of the bridge towers of Regensburg at baufachinformation. de Bridge chapel Gate tower Gatehouse
8.
Baroque
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The style began around 1600 in Rome and Italy, and spread to most of Europe. The aristocracy viewed the dramatic style of Baroque art and architecture as a means of impressing visitors by projecting triumph, power, Baroque palaces are built around an entrance of courts, grand staircases, and reception rooms of sequentially increasing opulence. However, baroque has a resonance and application that extend beyond a reduction to either a style or period. It is also yields the Italian barocco and modern Spanish barroco, German Barock, Dutch Barok, others derive it from the mnemonic term Baroco, a supposedly laboured form of syllogism in logical Scholastica. The Latin root can be found in bis-roca, in informal usage, the word baroque can simply mean that something is elaborate, with many details, without reference to the Baroque styles of the 17th and 18th centuries. The word Baroque, like most periodic or stylistic designations, was invented by later critics rather than practitioners of the arts in the 17th, the term Baroque was initially used in a derogatory sense, to underline the excesses of its emphasis. In particular, the term was used to describe its eccentric redundancy and noisy abundance of details, although it was long thought that the word as a critical term was first applied to architecture, in fact it appears earlier in reference to music. Another hypothesis says that the word comes from precursors of the style, Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and he did not make the distinctions between Mannerism and Baroque that modern writers do, and he ignored the later phase, the academic Baroque that lasted into the 18th century. Long despised, Baroque art and architecture became fashionable between the two World Wars, and has remained in critical favour. In painting the gradual rise in popular esteem of Caravaggio has been the best barometer of modern taste, William Watson describes a late phase of Shang-dynasty Chinese ritual bronzes of the 11th century BC as baroque. The term Baroque may still be used, usually pejoratively, describing works of art, craft, the appeal of Baroque style turned consciously from the witty, intellectual qualities of 16th-century Mannerist art to a visceral appeal aimed at the senses. It employed an iconography that was direct, simple, obvious, germinal ideas of the Baroque can also be found in the work of Michelangelo. Even more generalised parallels perceived by some experts in philosophy, prose style, see the Neapolitan palace of Caserta, a Baroque palace whose construction began in 1752. In paintings Baroque gestures are broader than Mannerist gestures, less ambiguous, less arcane and mysterious, more like the stage gestures of opera, Baroque poses depend on contrapposto, the tension within the figures that move the planes of shoulders and hips in counterdirections. Baroque is a style of unity imposed upon rich, heavy detail, Baroque style featured exaggerated lighting, intense emotions, release from restraint, and even a kind of artistic sensationalism. There were highly diverse strands of Italian baroque painting, from Caravaggio to Cortona, the most prominent Spanish painter of the Baroque was Diego Velázquez. The later Baroque style gradually gave way to a more decorative Rococo, while the Baroque nature of Rembrandts art is clear, the label is less often used for Vermeer and many other Dutch artists. Flemish Baroque painting shared a part in this trend, while continuing to produce the traditional categories
9.
Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire
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A set of revolutions took place in the Austrian Empire from March 1848 to November 1849. The nationalist picture was complicated by the simultaneous events in the German states. Besides these nationalists, liberal and even socialist currents resisted the Empires longstanding conservatism, the events of 1848 were the product of mounting social and political tensions after the Congress of Vienna of 1815. Conflicts between debtors and creditors in agricultural production as well as land use rights in parts of Hungary led to conflicts that occasionally erupted into violence. Conflict over organized religion was pervasive in pre-1848 Europe, tension came both from within Catholicism and between members of different confessions. These conflicts were often mixed with conflict with the state, important for the revolutionaries were state conflicts including the armed forces and collection of taxes. Draft commissions led to brawls between soldiers and civilians, all of this further agitated the peasantry, who resented their remaining feudal obligations. Despite lack of freedom of the press and association, there was a flourishing liberal German culture among students and they published pamphlets and newspapers discussing education and language, a need for basic liberal reforms was assumed. These middle class liberals largely understood and accepted that labor is not efficient. The question was of how to institute such reforms, notable liberal clubs of the time in Vienna included the Legal-Political Reading Club and Concordia Society. They had merely advocated relaxed censorship, freedom of religion, economic freedoms, and, above all and they were outright opposed to popular sovereignty and the universal franchise. To their left was a radicalized, impoverished intelligentsia, educational opportunities in 1840s Austria had far outstripped employment opportunities for the educated. In 1846 there had been an uprising of Polish nobility in Austrian Galicia, the economic crisis of 1845-47 was marked by recession and food shortages throughout the continent. At the end of February 1848, demonstrations broke out in Paris, louis-Philippe of France abdicated the throne, prompting similar revolts throughout the continent. With no forces rallying to Metternichs defense, nor word from Ferdinand I of Austria to the contrary, metternich fled to London, and Ferdinand appointed new, nominally liberal, ministers. The established order collapsed rapidly because of the weakness of the Austrian armies, Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky was unable to keep his soldiers fighting Venetian and Milanese insurgents in Lombardy-Venetia, and had to, instead, order the remaining troops to evacuate. Social and political conflict as well as inter and intra confessional hostility momentarily subsided as much of the continent rejoiced in the liberal victories, mass political organizations and public participation in government became widespread. However, liberal ministers were unable to establish central authority, the victory of the party of movement was looked at as an opportunity for lower classes to renew old conflicts with greater anger and energy
10.
Flood
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A flood is an overflow of water that submerges land which is usually dry. The European Union Floods Directive defines a flood as a covering by water of land not normally covered by water, in the sense of flowing water, the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods can also occur in rivers when the flow exceeds the capacity of the river channel. Floods often cause damage to homes and businesses if they are in the flood plains of rivers. Some floods develop slowly, while others such as floods, can develop in just a few minutes. Additionally, floods can be local, impacting a neighborhood or community, or very large, the word flood comes from the Old English flod, a word common to Germanic languages. Deluge myths are stories of a great flood sent by a deity or deities to destroy civilization as an act of divine retribution. Floods can happen on flat or low-lying areas when water is supplied by rainfall or snowmelt more rapidly than it can infiltrate or run off. The excess accumulates in place, sometimes to hazardous depths, surface soil can become saturated, which effectively stops infiltration, where the water table is shallow, such as a floodplain, or from intense rain from one or a series of storms. Infiltration also is slow to negligible through frozen ground, rock, concrete, paving, areal flooding begins in flat areas like floodplains and in local depressions not connected to a stream channel, because the velocity of overland flow depends on the surface slope. Endorheic basins may experience flooding during periods when precipitation exceeds evaporation. Floods occur in all types of river and stream channels, from the smallest ephemeral streams in humid zones to normally-dry channels in arid climates to the worlds largest rivers. When overland flow occurs on tilled fields, it can result in a flood where sediments are picked up by run off. Localized flooding may be caused or exacerbated by drainage obstructions such as landslides, ice, debris, slow-rising floods most commonly occur in large rivers with large catchment areas. The increase in flow may be the result of sustained rainfall, rapid snow melt, monsoons, the cause may be localized convective precipitation or sudden release from an upstream impoundment created behind a dam, landslide, or glacier. In one instance, a flood killed eight people enjoying the water on a Sunday afternoon at a popular waterfall in a narrow canyon. Without any observed rainfall, the rate increased from about 50 to 1,500 cubic feet per second in just one minute. Two larger floods occurred at the site within a week
11.
Battle of White Mountain
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The Battle of White Mountain was an important battle in the early stages of the Thirty Years War. It was fought on 8 November 1620, the site is now part of the city of Prague. The battle marked the end of the Bohemian period of the Thirty Years War and its aftermath drastically changed the religious landscape of the Czech lands after two centuries of Protestant dominance. Roman Catholicism retained majority in the Czech lands until the late 20th century, Ferdinand saw Protestantism as inimical to the Empire, and wanted to impose absolutist rule on Bohemia while forcefully encouraging conversion to the Roman Catholic faith. Particularly galling to Protestants were perceived violations of Emperor Rudolf IIs 1609 Letter of Majesty and this incident, known as the Second Defenestration of Prague, triggered the Bohemian Revolt. In November 1619, Elector Palatine Frederick V, who many of the rebels was a Calvinist, was chosen as King of Bohemia by the Bohemian Electorate. In 1620, now established as Emperor, Ferdinand II set out to conquer Bohemia. Tillys army enjoyed the advantage of including two of the most successful leaders in European history - Tilly himself and the future General Wallenstein. Tillys force was made up of two groups, Imperial troops commanded by Charles Bonaventure de Longueval, Count of Bucquoy. All of the armies of the day employed numerous mercenaries, including, by some definitions, serving with the Catholic League as an official observer was the future father of modern philosophy, René Descartes. After conquering most of western Bohemia, the Imperial army made for Prague, the Bohemians attempted to block them by setting up defensive positions, which the Imperial army simply bypassed. Force-marching his men, Christian of Anhalt managed to get ahead of the Imperial army just before Prague and he thus gained an advantageous position on the White Mountain, actually a low plateau, but had little time to set up defensive works. Enthusiasm for joining battle was low on both sides, on November 8 a small Imperial force was sent to probe the Protestant flank. To their surprise, the Bohemians retreated at their advance, Tilly quickly sent in reinforcements, and the Bohemian flank began to crumble. Anhalt tried to retrieve the situation by sending infantry and cavalry led by his son Christian II. The cavalry charged into the Imperial infantry, causing significant casualties, the Bohemian infantry, who were only now approaching the Imperial army, saw the cavalry retreating, at which they fired one volley at extreme range before retreating themselves. A small group of Imperial cavalry began circling the Protestant forces, with the Bohemian army already demoralized, company after company began retreating, most without having actually entered the battle. The Battle of White Mountain was more a skirmish than a full-fledged battle, the Bohemian army was no match for the Emperor Ferdinands troops
listen)) is a historic bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the beginning of the 15th century.[2] The bridge replaced the old Judith Bridge built 1158–1172 that had been badly damaged by a flood in 1342. This new bridge was originally called Stone Bridge (Kamenný most) or Prague Bridge (Pražský most) but has been "Charles Bridge" since 1870.[2] As the only means of crossing the river Vltava (Moldau) until 1841, Charles Bridge was the most important connection between Prague Castle and the city's Old Town and adjacent areas. This "solid-land" connection made Prague important as a trade route between Eastern and Western Europe.
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