Related articles
Current AffairsPrague society combats problem of stray cats on the streets
Visitors to Prague may notice that - unlike many other major cities - you
very rarely see a stray dog on the streets here. Perhaps this is partly
down to the fact that Czechs - as a nation of dog-lovers - are loath to
leave an abandoned dog to fend for itself against the elements. Cats,
unfortunately, don't seem to occupy the same special place in Czech
hearts, and the number of stray felines roaming Prague's streets remains a
persistent problem. The Prague Society for the Protection of Animals is
one organisation tackling this issue. It runs a number of cat shelters
around the city. We paid a visit to one of them.
More
Letter from PragueBigger isn't always better
It would not have occurred to me that something like that could happen -
but I did not like the thing anyway. I'm talking about a Christmas tree,
the tallest in this country, nicknamed Big Charles, that stood in Prague's
Old Town Square until last Saturday when it came crashing down and nearly
killed several people.
More
Letter from PragueWaiting for the blanket of grey to lift from over Prague
If you have been to Prague then you will be familiar with the magistrala,
the motorway which cuts through the top of Wenceslas Square, just in front
of the National Museum. I was shocked a couple of years ago to discover
that the road - which carries heavy traffic right through the centre of
the capital - had been built in the 1970s.
More
Current AffairsCubist House of the Black Madonna re-opens in Prague
Those of you who have walked from Prague's Powder Tower towards the Old
Town Square may have come across an unusual building on the corner of
Celetna Street and Ovocny Trh. The House of the Black Madonna named after
the stone sculpture of a black Madonna sitting on top of it, is one of the
world's rarest examples of Cubist architecture. The building was closed in
January 2002, but Prague was proud to announce this Friday that its doors
have finally been re-opened to the public:
More
SpotlightPrague's Clementinum
Just a stone's throw from Prague's Charles Bridge, on the Old Town side of
the Vltava, stands the Clementinum, after Prague Castle the biggest
complex of historical buildings in the city. Named after a church on the
site dedicated to St Clement, the Clementinum was established by the
Jesuits in the middle of the 16th century. After centuries as a college,
it is now home to the Czech National Library and the main Prague weather
station.
More
Current AffairsPrague's Na Prikope Street places 18th in Main Streets of the World survey
Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, the Champs Elysees in Paris, London's Oxord
street - these and other swanky avenues regularly finish at the top of a
survey called Main Streets Across the World, published annually by real
estate consultants Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker. The latest
survey out this week has shown Prague's own Na Prikope Street has made it
to the top 18. Jan Velinger spoke with Jonathan Hallett, the head of the
Prague branch of Cushman & Wakefield Healey & Baker. He began by
asking the realties expert whether Na Prikope Street's placing had come as
a surprise, or was instead part of a continuing trend.
More
Current AffairsPrague City Council gives green light to new stadium
Moving on to some good news for Czech football fans, especially those who
couldn't get tickets for September's Euro 2004 qualifier against Holland,
because Prague's 20,000-capacity Letna stadium was sold-out. Prague City
Council on Tuesday expressed its support for the building of a new 50,000
thousand-seat national sports stadium in the city's Strahov district.
More
Current AffairsDog licences in Prague to increase to help cover street-cleaning expenses
Visitors admiring the beauty of Prague's spires and the colourful facades
of its historic buildings are often in for an unpleasant surprise. Prague
residents learnt long ago that it's safest to walk around the city with
their eyes down. That's because the streets of the capital are often
littered with dog excrement, which the city authorities spend tens of
millions of crowns a year cleaning up. The money from dog licences is used
to clean up the dog mess, though it is not enough. The city council has
now proposed the licence fee be increased by fifty percent.
More
Czechs in HistoryThe Builders of St Vitus' Cathedral
Hello and welcome to Czechs in History. In today's edition: a look at
Prague's most distinctive landmark St Vitus' Cathedral, ever visible above
the city's Little Quarter, its Gothic and Neo-Gothic spires reaching above
the Prague Castle, its most precious jewel and centrepiece. We look at how
it was commissioned and constructed and how it survived times of turmoil
and war. This site for coronations and final resting place for saints
and kings of Bohemia - a cathedral unparalleled in importance in the Czech
lands.
More
Stepping OutOn board - and wily - at the Paluba games room
It used to be one night a week in Prague on one of the city's steamboats
travelling up and down a stretch of the Vltava River - the Paluba games
club - a place to go with friends or to meet new ones to play a wide
variety of board games you never had as a kid. But, then, Paluba changed
locations: many members wanted a more regular place to visit, and the
steamboat was getting expensive. Today, the Paluba games room has docked
in Prague's Andel district: a club where people of all ages can get
together to match wits.
More
+1
