Bridging The Vltava

BEYOND the candy shops and other 'tourist traps' of old town Prague is the Charles Bridge (Karlův Most).

The bridge is guarded on the old-town side by a tower built on the orders of King Charles of Bohemia, who went on to be the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV

Charles was the son of John the Blind, the first Bohemian king from the House of Luxembourg who famously died at the Battle of Crécy in 1346, fighting for the French 10 years after losing his sight crusading in Lithuania.

Charles was wounded at the same battle but escaped, and, with Europe ravaged by plague, made Prague his capital as it had largely avoided infection.

In 1357 he ordered a replacement for the city's 200-year-old Judith Bridge, which had been damaged by flooding.

The new Stone Bridge (Kamenný Most) was the only crossing over the Vltava river in the region for many years. Its modern name of Charles Bridge became popular in the 1870s.

The bridge is famous for its statues, erected from around 1700 but largely replaced by copies, which are slowly being cleaned and repaired.