Old Town Square in Prague

The Old Town Square is located in Prague’s Old Town. It is about 9000 m2 in size. It is frequented by horse-drawn carriages, tourists on Segways and street artists presenting their skills.

The Prague visitors are mainly drawn to the Town Hall Tower and the Astronomical Clock. But the square has so much more to offer: The Tyn Cathedral for example or the Kinský Palace, the Jan Hus monument and beautiful buildings from different periods.

The picture on the left was taken on my first trip to Prague in 1992, the right picture was taken in 2015.

Old Town Hall

The Old Town Hall is located in the south east of the Old Town Square. This is where the Astronomical Clock is, too. The town hall was built in gothic style. The round and pointed arch windows are particularly pretty. During the rebellion of 1945, the town hall was damaged. After the war, it was restored through extensive restoration work.

Tyn Cathedral

The Gothic Tyn Cathedral was built from 1365 onwards. It was still under construction at the end of the 15th century. Only modern times saw the towers completed. It is remarkable that not only their height is different, but also their appearance. We already travelled to Prague in 1992. Unfortunately, there are only a few photos from this period, but the church had me excited back then. The left picture is from 1992, the right picture from 2015.

It can be seen that the right tower, also called Adam, is wider than the left tower (called Eva).

Palais Kinsky

The Rococo style palace was built between 1755 and 1765. President Klement Gottwald proclaimed the communist take-over of power from the balcony of this house in 1948.  

St. Nicholas Church

The church was built between 1732 and 1735. Soon after its completion, the building was used as a warehouse, became a garrison church for a period of time, and was finally taken over by the Russian Orthodox parish in 1871. Unfortunately, the church was scaffolded, so we did not take any new pictures. But we found a picture from 1992 in our photo album.