Anyway, back to my hotel. It used to be a convent, built in the early 1700's by Jesuits, along with St. Bartolomew's Church. Jesuits were banned by the Austrian monarchy in 1780 and the church and convent were sold to the city. In 1850 it was returned to the Grey Sisters of Franciscus for their charitable works. In 1950, the State Secret Police raided and took over the property, sending the nuns to a concentration camp. They used the church as a shooting range, and the convent as a prison where they carried out many brutalities. One of the prisoners held here was the eventual president, Vaclav Havel (more about him in just a minute). The church was reconsecrated in 1998. The renovation of the convent into a wonderful little hotel began in 2006...
Today I first headed off to Wenceslas Square...
This square, which started out as a horse market, is quite an historic place. The first protest here was held in the 1400's. Then in 1918, the people celebrated their independence, or so they thought. In 1969, a young man set himself on fire here to protest the Soviet occupation. And most recently, as many of us remember, in 1989, the people gathered here to hear Vaclav Havel's pro-democracy speech, as communism came to an end....shortly thereafter Havel became president of the new Czech Republic. Gives me goose bumps being here. Havel is still alive and still highly revered by the Czech people.
The building which anchors the plaza is the National Museum, but it's real claim to fame was that it was the casino in the movie, Casino Royale. In front of the museum is a statue of Good King Wenceslas...
The street has many interesting art nouveau and other style buildings, as this area has emerged over the years as the primary commercial hub...
On my way to Republic Plaza, I came upon the State Opera House...
This is the only original opera house that still stands where Mozart performed. The Czechs loved Mozart. When the Marriage of Figaro (which he wrote in that house I went to in Vienna) first played in Austria, it was not well received, as it poked some fun at the nobility. But when it showed later here in Prague, the audiences loved it. Which was what led to the commission for Mozart to write Don Giovanni, which premiered here in Prague. I seem to be following that opera across Europe!! Also, the film Amadeus was filmed here in Prague by a Czech film director. So I'll have to watch it again now.
I continued on to Republic Square where the Powder Tower still stands....one of the towers that was a part of the wall around the city at one time...
It originally housed the gunpowder, thus the name. Next to this tower is the Municipal House, a beautiful music venue where I will go later this evening.
I started to head over to the Jewish quarter, but it was already late afternoon, and I hadn't had lunch. So I had seen a cafe with mussels in this neighborhood yesterday, so after walking around for a little while, I found it. And spent the rest of the afternoon doing the "cafe" thing.
After freshening up, I headed to the Mozart/Strauss concert at the Municipal House. The inside was also quite beautiful...
...and the concert was conducted by a young woman, which you don't see that often, so that made it even more special...
Had a late dinner at the famous Buddha Bar (which was extremely similar to the Tao Restaurant in New York...hmm, who copied who?).
Will head to the Jewish quarter tomorrow!
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