Charles Square, Prague

Despite the fact that Nové Město is rapidly losing its medieval character, the spirit of those centuries has not left Charles Square in Prague and it has been preserved in the form Charles IV would have wanted to see it.

Like any square, Charles Square has its precious landmarks. Starting with its northern part, one cannot help but notice the imposing tower of the "New Town Hall". The Town Hall was built in the 1460s and was the scene of the First Defenestration. Today it functions as a home for cultural performances and weddings. Behind it on Charles Square, in the spirit of Czech Cubist architecture, stands the absolutely unique "Diamond House".

Between Charles Square and the Vltava River peeks the Baroque Church of Sts. Cyril and Methodius. It has played the role of the ecclesiastical home of the Czech Orthodox Church in Prague since 1935. Opposite it is the small Gothic Church of St. Wenceslas, which preserves ancient frescoes.

The imposing Jesuit Church of St Ignatius and the Jesuit College near it occupy the eastern part of Charles Square. "St. Ignatius was mostly completed in 1671. Those who worked on it gave much of themselves to achieve the desired result - the majestic symmetrical interior has lavish Baroque decoration and furnishings, a tall pink and white nave with a semicircular vault and a striking high altar with columns.

On Charles Square is a rather interesting building, the "House of Faust". Legend has it that this was once the residence of Dr. Faustus, but it is no legend that it was the home of Edward Kelly, an Elizabethan adventurer who tried hard to convince Rudolf II that he would succeed in turning lead and other metals into gold.

The next 'inhabitant' of Charles Square was a religious building erected by Charles IV in 1347. The ruler built the "Eamus Monastery", driven by the idea of connecting the eastern and western branches of Christianity. The monastery underwent several reforms to its architecture - in 1880 German monks rebuilt most of the building in the neo-Gothic style, in 1967 the roof was made quite remarkable by the idea of František Černý, in order to replace the one destroyed during World War II. And today the "Eamus Monastery" is again undergoing restoration.