Prague
o Prague Castle
built in the 9th century
was a seat of power for kings of Bohemia,
Holy Roman emperors, presidents of
Czechoslovakia
now is the official office of the President of
Czechia
Prague Castle is the largest ancient castle
in the world according to the Guinness
Book of Records
o St. Vitus Cathedral
Gothic cathedral with Renaissance
elements
part of the Prague Castle complex
the Bohemian Crown Jewels are kept there
o Charles Bridge
stone bridge that crosses the Vltava River
in Prague
is decorated by a continuous alley of 30
statues
its construction began under the auspices
of King Charles IV. and finished in the early
15th century
connects Prague Castle and the city's Old
Town and adjacent areas
o National Museum
located on the upper end of Wenceslas
Square
founded in 1818, built by Czech neo-
renaissance architect Josef Schulz
exhibitions featuring natural sciences and
historical collections
o Venceslas square
named after Saint Wenceslas, the patron
saint of Bohemia
the centre of the business and cultural
communities in the New Town of Prague
a traditional setting for demonstrations,
celebrations, and other public gatherings,
the most important ones:
16. January 1969, student Jan Palach
set himself on fire in Wenceslas
Square to protest the Warsaw Pact
invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968
1989, during the Velvet Revolution,
large demonstrations were held here,
which led to the end of 41 years long
Communist Party
o Old town square with the astronomical clock
located between Wenceslas Square and
Charles Bridge
the astronomical clock mounted on the Old
Town Hall is the third-oldest in the world
and the oldest clock still in operation
o Vyšehrad
a historic fort in Prague on the east bank of
the Vltava River
contains the Vyšehrad Cemetery, where
are kept the remains of many famous
Czechs
o National Theatre
a neo-Renaissance building with a golden
crown-shaped roof
was built in the Bach absolutism era when
Czechia was part of the Austrian Empire -
Czech culture, language, and art was
being replaced by German
was opened for the first time on 11 June
1881, but a fire broke out on 12 August
1881, which destroyed the copper dome,
the auditorium, and the stage of the theatre
reopened on 18 November 1883
promoted Czech pride
o Charles University
founded in 1348 by Charles IV.
the oldest university in Central Europe
Famous people in the history of Czechia
o Bedřich Smetana (2 March 1824 – 12 May
1884)
the father of Czech music
born in Litomyšl - a town near Česká
Třebová
the symphonic cycle Má vlast ("My
Fatherland"), which portrays the history,
legends, and landscape of the composer's
native Bohemia. It contains the famous
symphonic poem "Vltava"
o Emil von Škoda (18 November 1839 – 8 August
1900)
Czech engineer and industrialist
founder of Škoda Works, the predecessor
of today's Škoda Auto and Škoda
Transportation
o Alphonse Mucha (24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939)
Czech painter, illustrator, and graphic artist
widely known for his distinctly stylized and
decorative theatrical posters
The Slav Epic - a series of twenty
monumental symbolist canvases, depicting
the history of all the Slavic peoples of the
world
o Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (7 March 1850 – 14
September 1937)
the first President of Czechoslovakia
regarded as the founding father of
Czechoslovakia (after the fall of Austria-
Hungary in late 1918)
Masaryk was re-elected three times: in
May 1920, 1927, and 1934
o Karel Čapek (9 January 1890 – 25 December
1938)
Czech writer, playwright, critic and
journalist.
best known for his science fiction, including
his novel War with the Newts or play
R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots,),
which introduced the word robot
nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature
seven times, but never received it
influenced by American pragmatic
liberalism, strongly opposed the rise of
both fascism and communism in Europe
died a few days before the Gestapo came
to arrest him
o Jaroslav Seifert (23 September 1901 – 10
January 1986)
Czech writer, poet, and journalist
received the Nobel Prize in Literature
(1984)
o Václav Havel (5 October 1936 – 18 December
2011)
the last president of Czechoslovakia and
the first president of the Czech Republic
because of his political activities during the
Communist system, he spent multiple
periods as a political prisoner
major role in the Velvet Revolution that
ended the Communist system in
Czechoslovakia in 1989
o Miloš Forman (18 February 1932 – 13 April
2018)
Czech film director who emigrated to the
United States in 1968
he won two Academy Awards, a BAFTA
Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a
Golden Bear, a César Award, and the
Czech Lion
his film The Firemen's Ball, a biting satire
on Eastern European Communism. It was
later banned by the Communist
government after the invasion by the
Warsaw Pact countries in 1968.
Forman was subsequently forced to leave
Czechoslovakia for the United States,
where he continued making films
o Karel Gott (14 July 1939 – 1 October 2019)
Czech singer considered the most
successful male singer in Czechoslovakia
and the Czech Republic
in the German-speaking countries, he was
known as "the Golden Voice of Prague"
