The Vltava and Charles Bridge in PRAGUE
Vltava, don't call it the Moldau, ...
The Vltava in Prague, a beautiful river to contemplate ...
In German, it is Moldau, a name that the Czechs find it difficult to accept (long history obliges).
Peaceful there, the Vltava is however sometimes violent and overflowing (as its etymology says, meaning "wild water"), invasive, to the point that over time, the architects wanted to protect themselves from it by backfilling; a flood in 1784 failed to wash away the Charles Bridge, and the most recent in August 2002 damaged certain riverside neighborhoods and the metro, but without affecting the Old Town, well protected by anti-flood barriers.
The Vltava constitutes this immense natural artery which gives the city, denser in the east than in the west, a beautiful and majestic breath.
We understand, without knowing more, that she could have inspired a famous melodic line to one of the children of the city, Smetana.
And here is this tune which resurfaces in memory, easy, romantic (in the popular sense, and not musical of the term), obsessive with one of his symphonic poems, that of "The Moldau".
Crossing a dozen bridges, its flow is broken by small slopes that delimit the reaches.
The route of Paris-style riverboats are limited by that. Is the sees maneuver nimbly.
Other smaller boats like pedal boats or canoes, often "disneymorphic" to amuse children, abound on certain reaches like midges on puddles or ducklings on ponds, but without having the liveliness.
From its banks, you can cross the four historic districts, see them, guess and often contemplate the picturesque.
Thus, the district of "Petit Côté", with its charming canals which stand out from the west bank.
Or Hradcany whose imposing heights can be seen, over there on the hill to the northwest.
Or the New Town (1348 !!) with its procession of Art Nouveau facades which border its banks, and which only date from the very beginning of the 20th century.
The famous Charles Bridge
in 1562
The first stone bridge in Prague was built between 1160 and 1172, at the request of Queen Judith, whose name it first bore. About 514 meters long and 7 meters wide, it was supported by 27 low arches.
In February 1342, at melting ice, 2/3 of the deck collapsed. It was necessary so the to replace.
Its construction was undertaken in 1357 during the reign of Charles IV. So it will be the Charles Bridge.
Many floods required several reconstructions, until 2001.
The oldest link that unites the two shores is therefore the famous Charles Bridge, between on the one hand the "Petit Côté" to the west from where it rises over the remains of the Judith Bridge and a small lateral canal of the Vltava and on the other hand the Old Town to the east.
If as the crow flies, the range would be 300 meters, with the extension towards the "Petit Côté" and its curved outline, its total length is 515 meters (like its predecessor) over a dozen large arches.
The only track connecting the two banks until the 19th century, the tram even used it between 1905 and 1908. It was open to cars at least up to the 60s.
If we linger there, it is not only because of the beautiful views it offers, but because of the almost rustic character, wobbly others will say. of its course, certainly not rectilinear and which bends slightly twice, more clearly as soon as one approaches the island of the left bank. Another charm which, by breaking the outlook a little, adds to the seduction of the city.
But in fact, the overall shape, convex upstream, was not not the result of chance, but well studied (already in the 14th century) to oppose the power of the waves.
view from the bridge to the Old Town
Reserved for pedestrians only on the paved road, from the morning, it becomes crowded with the multitude tourists from all over the world (6 million visitors in 2018) who wander in both directions, pose against its parapets or under the sculpted groups that rise above the pillars. There they lean or sag, tired, on the low wall of the modest recesses above the pillars.
the other end towards the "Small Side"
and there ... almost miraculously deserted
The bridge retains at each of its ends its high medieval doors flanked sharp watchtowers (more decoration than defense) and battlements, in a pure Gothic style, while around the baroque splendours unfold.
Their slate roof with a sharp ridge two-sided main, erect like a punk wick gives them a remarkable elegance.
The groups of statues that line the bridge are with a strong religious character in a totally baroque representation, therefore much later to the construction of the bridge (around 3 centuries later).
Sometimes ghostly, bending birds ominous, the statues seem charged with a threatening threat that passers-by don't care about.
Oddly, desired effect or insufficient means of restoration, most (with a few exceptions) remain dull or the gloomy darkness to which pollution leads, but which are revealed by fine golden decorations - crosses, crowns, scepters, butts, ... - metallic. As if the city had decided to play on this contrast and take advantage of it rather than undertake to swallow everything.
