Prague Castle

We headed up to the castle on our first full day, lead by Alison, a CESRI Fellow who is staying in Prague for the summer. The castle isn't like the Disney castle, but a series of buildings and walls. Here you can see the gate. The guy on the left is stabbing somebody with a dagger and the guy on the right is about to club someone. Life must have been pretty tough back then.

The biggest feature of the castle is the St. Vitus Cathedral.

It was very difficult to get a picture capturing most of the cathedral. Here's my best attempt.

Here are the front doors.

The detail was astonishing. As can be seen with these gargoyles jetting out of the cathedral walls.

Another angle of the gargoyles.

On the outside of the building is painted a brief summary of the Catholic religion: people going to heaven on the left, people praying in the middle, and people going to hell on the right. At least this is what we thought it meant.

This cathedral is massive, and like all I've seen, are decked-out with amazing detail inside.

Here are the organ pipes.

The stained glass inside was magnificent. There were so many of these windows inside, each telling a different story.

More stained glass.

And more.

The windows in the cathedral really add an intense feeling.

I think this is where the Pope sits during his visits.

And here's the altar.

The tomb of John of Nepomuk resides inside. It was pretty creepy as you had to walk around, very close to it, to exit. I always felt it to be a little bizarre to keep bodies around.


Here's another tomb.

The Prague castle