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| 0367 Prague - Old Town Square |
The Old Town Square of Prague and the surrounding quarter is lined with wonderful buildings in different architectural styles, from Gothic to Baroque. The Church of Mother of God before Týn, probably the most recognizable church in Prague, dominates the square. Its construction started in the 14th century in the late Gothic style, but the spires were finished in 1511. In front of the church is the historic Týn School, an arcaded Gothic building that gives access to the church.
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| 2986 Prague - Church of Mother of God before Týn |
To the left of the church can be seen the House At The Stone Bell, built in Gothic style in the second half of the 13th century, and rebuilt later into Baroque and Neo-Baroque style. A difficult reconstruction in the 1980s return the Gothic image to the house. Its front face is considered one of the most beautiful ones in Europe, illustrating the magnificence in the times of Charles IV, who transformed Prague into an imperial capital, the third-largest city in Europe, after Rome and Constantinopole.
As suggests the house's name, it was called after a stone bell, whose replica is placed at the corner of the building. Next to the left is the Goltz-Kinský Palace, originally built in Rococo style between 1755 and 1765. After the death of Count Goltz, the palace was bought by Kinsky family who stayed there until 1945. The building is also connected with the names of some famous people. Austrian writer, baroness Bertha von Suttner, the first person awarded the Nobel Piece Prize in 1905, was born in this palace in 1843. The palace used to serve as a German speaking grammar school that was attended by Franz Kafka. His father had a small kiosk on the ground floor of the palace.
In the lower left corner (the north-east corner of the square) is the Jan Hus Monument, erected in 1915 to mark the 500th anniversary of the reformer's death at the stake. It is the work of Ladislav Šaloun, inspired by the famous sculptures of the French artist Auguste Rodin. On the south side of the square are some buildings with colorful Renaissance and Baroque façades, like the Štorch House, At the Stone Table, At the Golden Unicorn, At the Stone Ram, At the Red Fox and At the Blue Star. These names had a practical purpose: in the past houses were not numbered so they were identified by their name.
Old Town Square and Church of Mother of God before Týn are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Centre of Prague, about which I wrote here.
About the stamps
On the postcard 0367
The stamp was issued on March 7, 2012, to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Foundation of the Union of Czech Mathematicians and Physicists (JCMF), one of the oldest, still existing learned societies in the Czech Republic.
On the postcard 2986
The stamp is one of the two of the series Folk Architecture, issued on February 23, 2011.
• A
• E - It's on the postcard 2986
References
Old Town Square (Prague) - Wikipedia
Prague, Old Town Square - A View on Cities
Old Town Square - Prague.net
Historic Centre of Prague - UNESCO official site
Sender 0367: Katka (direct swap)
Sent from Prague (Czech Republic), on 07.05.2012
Sender 2986: Nicole / NikkiAllen (postcrossing) CZ-1144719
Sent from Prague (Czech Republic), on 13.03.2017
Photo: Milan Kinkl
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