Along Charles Street we can get to the Old Town Square, the centre of the Old Town. It is sunoundedby beautifully decorated houses with coloured faęades and gables of all styles. A monumental medieval tower-like building of the house At the Stone Bell and the Rococo Kinsky Pałace which now houses a graphic collection are the n^j remarkable. The best known building in the square is the Old Town Hall, though. It was near the town hall thatft representatives of the anti-Habsburg uprising were executed after the lost Battle of the White Mountain. Tourists eonie to see a horologe with the statues of the Apostles on the tower. The visuai dominant of the Square is the Tyn church where Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe was buried in 1601. The centre of the Sąuare is beautified by the John Hass Monument Not far from the Sąuare is the Bethlchem Chapel, the most important centre of the Reformation movement where John Huss preached. The Old Town Sąuare was a part of the Royal Route which lead along Celetnd and Karlova Street to Charles Bridge and the Castle (the coronation ceremony began at VySehrad).
From the Old Town Sąuare two well-known streets lead: Paris Street, lined with fme houses built inthelatc-19th century decorative style, takes us to the Jewish Town. The Jewish community originated in Prague as earty as the lOth century. Now only a few synagogues (the Old-New Synagogue for example) and the cemetery have remained to the presci The other Street, Cclctnń St. leads to the Powder Tower which forms a monumental entrance to the Old Town. Closcto it is the Munieipal House, in the 14th and 15th centuries the Royal Court, at the tum of this century rebuilt in the late \% century decorative style. The best known of its 6 halls is the Smetana Hall in which concerts of the Prague Spring Musie Festival and balls are held. The Na pfikopfc Street, now a pedestrian precinct, takes us to the bottom of WenccslasSqiarv, the heart of the New Town and present-day Prague. It is a 750 m long boulevard lined with banks, department stora, boutiąues, shops, hotels, restaurants, cafes, theatres and cinemas. The uppper end of the sąuare is closed by the Neo-Renaissance building of the National Museum from the end of the 19th century which contains historical and natunl history collections. In the upper part of the sąuare stands the St. Wenceslas Memoriał, the bronze eąuestrian statuę of Prince Wenceslas by J. V. Myslbek, a favourite meeting place of tourists. From the bottom of the Sąuare we can goiioog Na rod ni Street to the river Vltava. On its bank the most beautiful Neo-Renaissance building, the National Tbtttrtis situated. Along the river we come to Vy5ehrad, once the seat of Czech Princes. Now only a few remains of the castle have been preserved on the rock. The oldest construction on Vy§ehrad and in the whole of Prague is the Rotunda ofSt Marto, built in the l Ith century. The VyŚehrad site also contains the Slavin Cemetery, the burial place of famous personalia of our cultural and political life.
Apart from the sights mentioned above Prague boasts many morę important institutions, and charming places, houses, and museums. Among them Charles University, the oldest university in Central and Eastem Europę, the Ho«se of Artists (Rudolfmum), the second most outstanding Neo-Renaissance building in Prague which once hosted the Parliament, and)h£ St Agnes Convent which now houses exhibitions of the National Gallery, are worth seeing.
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