PRAGUE old town has many house signs from the days of mass illiteracy.
Some are easier to interpret than others.
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| This looks as if it should be on a winebar or tavern, but was placed on a housefront in the late 1700s by owners who wanted to highlight the biblical story of Joshua and Caleb bringing a huge bunch of grapes from the Promised Land |
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| I guessed this golden animal represented a lion, and indeed the house - now a pub-restaurant - previously had a lion as its emblem, but this was changed in 1713 to what is apparently a tiger |
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| Snakes and their venom were associated with Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, and this one indicates the building was once a pharmacy |
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| This mermaid is a long way from the sea, but has had plenty of time to contemplate her fate, having been installed in 1439 |
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