traveldk.com

The National Marionette Theatre represents the pinnacle of the much-loved puppet genre, staging wonderful productions of Czech fairytales and other child-pleasing shows (in Czech). They also have the best Beatles tribute in town and a delightful marionette version of Don Giovanni (see Puppet Shows).

The end of Communism in Czechoslovakia began midway between the National Theatre and what is now the Tesco supermarket. On 17 November 1989, police put a brutal end to a pro-democracy march as it made its way to Wenceslas Square. A plaque under the arcade at Národní 20 marks where marchers and truncheons met.

The 19th-century Czech writer and poet Jan Neruda (1834–91) lived in the “House of the Two Suns”, at the top of the street that now bears his name. Lined with former palaces, Nerudova leads uphill from Malostranské náměstí, its many winding side streets leading visitors up to Prague Castle. Traditionally an artists’ quarter, the street is worth exploring for its many craft shops and galleries. It is also home to one of the most concentrated collections of historic house signs in the city (see House Signs).

The Royal Route, established in the 15th century for the coronation of George of Poděbrady, covered the distance from the Municipal House on the Old Town Square to the castle. The last stretch climbed the hill right about here, although the original steps were reconstructed during Empress Maria Theresa’s Hradčany renovation in the 18th century. Halfway up is a music pavilion, from which a brass quartet of the Castle Guard serenades the city each morning at 10am.

In 1419, an anti-clerical mob led by Jan Želivský hurled the Catholic mayor and his councillors from a New Town Hall window in the first of Prague’s defenestrations (see Prague’s Third Defenestration). The Gothic tower on the building’s eastern end was added a few years later; its viewing platform is open to the public. The crowds that gather round the tower’s base nearly every Saturday are there to congratulate newlyweds, married in the building’s Gothic hall.

Have a look at the recent restoration work at this 17th-century palace while taking in a chamber music concert. The Nostitz family lent their name to the playhouse now known as the Estates Theatre.

Nestled below the Loreto (see The Loreto) and at the head of the Stag Moat is Nový Svět (New World), perhaps the best street in town for romantic strolling, weather permitting. The picturesque low houses were built in the 17th century to replace the medieval slums built for castle workers after the former burned down in 1541. They remain unchanged by time, still displaying their decorative house signs. Rudolph II’s choleric astronomer Tycho de Brahe) lived at No. 1 and apparently found the noise of nearby churchbells insufferable.

As charmless as the Congress Centre, this viaduct spans the Nusle Valley, connecting New Town to the Pankrác banking and commercial district.