Martina Hübnerová

Here is a taste of what Martina can tell you if you visit with her some of these famous place in or around Prague:

Karlštejn Castle

This high gothic castle was founded in 1348 by Czech King and Roman Emperor Charles IV as a place for safekeeping of the royal treasures, especially Charles's collec­tion of holy relics and the coronation jewels of the Roman Empire. At the outbreak of the Husite wars the castle became the place for safekeeping of the Czech coronation jewels, which were kept here, with the exception of several short time breaks, for nearly 200 years. The castle was reconstructed in late gothic style after 1480 and in renaissance style in the last quarter of the 16th century. The present appearance of the castle comes from the last reconstruction, which was carried out, in the purist neo-gothic style by architect Josef Mocker at the end of the 19th century.

Kutná Hora

Today, Kutná Hora is just a small city among many others. It wasn't always like this. During the 14th century, the town was the second biggest city of Bohemia – #1 of course was →Prague. Flashback: During the 13th century, a large and rich silver mine was found in (not near!) Kutná Hora. Needless to say that silver was very important at that time as well, and so people started to massively exploit silver. Then the precious metal was processed and turned into so called Silbergroschen (silver penny). In late medieval Europe, the silver penny was the most important hard currency. Thanks to the silver, the town blossomed.

Time of prosperity lasted until the 16th century, when Kutná Hora's silver deposits were exhausted. The last mine was given up and sealed in 1726. With the wisdom of hindsight, the sudden end of Kutná Hora's boom was a good thing. Nothing changed after the economical decline – the medieval city has been perfectly preserved. That is way the entire historical centre was declared UNESCO world heritage in 1996.

When you walk attentively trough old and new Kutná Hora, you will see that most of the industry is down. The major source of income is tourism and a modern cigarette factory run by Philip Morris.

Terezin Memorial

A tragic chapter in Europian history.Accept our invitation and come with us on an excursion to the place where Nazi Occupation during the Second War resulted in the most tragic chapter in the history of not only one town,but also catastrophic fate of many thousandsof innocent victims.You can seetheentire complex of the former nazi concentration camp with narration including authentic personal memories,chilling experiences and episodes from Terezin‘s grim history.

Konopiště

Originally a castle built about 1300. Architectural changes on larger scale were first carried out at the begining of the 17th century and in the 18th century the castle was gradually converted into a chateau park laid out. In 1887 Konopiště became the property of Franz Ferdinand d“Este. Prague

Old Jewish Cemetery

The Old Jewish Cemetery was established in the first half of the 15th century. Along with the Old-New Synagogue, it is one of the most important hictoric sites in Prague´s Jewish Town. The oldest tombstone, which marks the grave of the poet and scholar Avigdor Karo, dates from the year 1439. Burials took place in the cemetery until 1787. Today it contains some 12,000 tombstones, although the number of persons buried here is much greater. The cemetery was enlarged a number of times in the past. In spite of this the area did not suffice and earth was brought in to add further layers. It is assumed that the cemetery contains several burial layers placed on top of each other. The picturesque groups of tombstones from various periods emerged through the raising of older stones to the upper layers. The most prominent person buried in the Old Jewish Cemetery is without a doubt the great religious scholar and teacher Judah Loew ben Bezalel, known as Rabbi Loew (d. 1609), who is associated with the legend of the Golem. Among the many other prominent persons buried in the Old Jewish Cemetery are: the Mayor of the Jewish Town Mordechai Maisel (d. 1601), the Renaissance scholar, historian, mathematician and astronomer David Gans (d. 1613), scholar and historian Joseph Solomon Delmedigo (d. 1655), and rabbi and collector of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books David Oppenheim (d. 1736).

The Prague Castle

The Prague castle has a very long history; it was built on the site of an old Slavic settlement on a hill overlooking the Vltava River. A wooden fortress already stood on the hill by 870 AD, slowly it got larger and larger, built of wood, but parts being replaced by stone buildings over time. (Building in stone was much more expensive) By 1135 most building were made of stone, and the Czech Kings made the castle their main residence. The castle reached it's zenith of importance during the rein of Czech King and Roman Emperor Charles IV, as he had very ambitious plans for it and his capitol city. Charles son Vaclav had a new Royal palace built in the old town in 1383, where the Kings resided during the time when the castle became inhabitable due to wars. The new Municipal House was built on the same spot at the beginning of the 20th century in Art Nouveau style.

After the Czech's lost the battle of White Mountain in 1620 to the invading Austrian army, the castle lost it's importance as the Austrian Emperors ruled the Czech kingdom from Vienna and mostly ignored their Prague residence. So only a few things were remodeled into the Baroque style. Austrian Empress Maria Theresia added a few buildings in Rococo and Classicism. However she ordered that the whole side of the complex facing the old town, be remodeled to appear as one building. (One common design and color) As it was a whole conglomeration of different buildings, styles and colors. She loved the color of yellow, so that was the color used and many buildings in the Empire were painted that color. (As soon as the Czech nation became free, it was repainted)

The Castle was then only used to accommodate army garrisons and visiting foreign VIP's. The Czech National Revival brought an end to the decay. The towers and western wing of St. Vitus cathedral was completed and the Czech president used the Prague Castle as their principal office since 1918. When the square Presidential flag waves above the royal palace the president is in the country.

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