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Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and
largest city The United Nations uses three definitions for what constitutes a city, as not all cities in all jurisdictions are classified using the same criteria. Cities may be defined as the cities proper, the extent of their urban area, or their metropo ...
in the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the
Vltava Vltava ( , ; german: Moldau ) is the longest river in the Czech Republic, running southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice and Prague, and finally merging with the Labe at ...
river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a
temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...
oceanic climate, with relatively warm summers and chilly winters. Prague is a political, cultural, and economic hub of
central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...
, with a rich history and Romanesque,
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
,
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
and Baroque architectures. It was the capital of the
Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...
and residence of several Holy Roman Emperors, most notably Charles IV (r. 1346–1378). It was an important city to the Habsburg monarchy and Austro-Hungarian Empire. The city played major roles in the
Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...
and the
Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...
s, the
Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
and in 20th-century history as the capital of
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
between the World Wars and the post-war
Communist era A Communist Era is a sustained period of national government by a single party following the philosophy of Marxism–Leninism. Many countries have experienced such a period of Communist rule. Current communist states China The Chinese Communist ...
. Prague is home to a number of well-known cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence and destruction of 20th-century Europe. Main attractions include
Prague Castle Prague Castle ( cs, Pražský hrad; ) is a castle complex in Prague 1 Municipality within Prague, Czech Republic, built in the 9th century. It is the official office of the President of the Czech Republic. The castle was a seat of power for king ...
,
Charles Bridge Charles Bridge ( cs, Karlův most ) is a medieval stone arch bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the early 15th century.; The ...
, Old Town Square with the Prague astronomical clock, the Jewish Quarter,
Petřín Petřín () is a hill in the centre of Prague, Czech Republic. It rises 327 m above sea level and some 130 m above the left bank of the Vltava River. The hill, almost entirely covered with parks, is a favorite recreational area for the inhabitan ...
hill and
Vyšehrad Vyšehrad ( Czech for "upper castle") is a historic fort in Prague, Czech Republic, just over 3 km southeast of Prague Castle, on the east bank of the Vltava River. It was probably built in the 10th century. Inside the fort are the Basil ...
. Since 1992, the historic center of Prague has been included in the
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
list of
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
s. The city has more than ten major museums, along with numerous theaters, galleries, cinemas, and other historical exhibits. An extensive modern public transportation system connects the city. It is home to a wide range of public and private schools, including Charles University in Prague, the oldest university in
Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...
. Prague is classified as an "Alpha-" global city according to
GaWC The Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) is a think tank that studies the relationships between world cities in the context of globalization. It is based in the geography department of Loughborough University in Leicestershire ...
studies. In 2019, the city was ranked as 69th most livable city in the world by Mercer. In the same year, the PICSA Index ranked the city as 13th most livable city in the world. Its rich history makes it a popular tourist destination and as of 2017, the city receives more than 8.5 million international visitors annually. In 2017, Prague was listed as the fifth most visited European city after
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
,
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
,
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
, and
Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...
.


Etymology and names

The Czech name Praha is derived from an old Slavic word, ''práh'', which means "
ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...
" or " rapid", referring to the city's origin at a crossing point of the Vltava river. The same etymology is associated with the Praga district of
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
. Another view to the origin of name is also related to the Czech word ''práh'' (with the meaning of a threshold) and a legendary etymology connects the name of the city with princess Libuše, prophetess and a wife of mythical founder of the
Přemyslid dynasty The Přemyslid dynasty or House of Přemyslid ( cs, Přemyslovci, german: Premysliden, pl, Przemyślidzi) was a Bohemian royal dynasty that reigned in the Duchy of Bohemia and later Kingdom of Bohemia and Margraviate of Moravia (9th century–130 ...
. She is said to have ordered the city "to be built where a man hews a threshold of his house". The Czech ''práh'' might thus be understood to refer to rapids or fords in the river, the edge of which could have acted as a means of fording the river – thus providing a "threshold" to the castle. Another derivation of the name ''Praha'' is suggested from ''na prazě'', the original term for the shale hillside rock upon which the original castle was built. At that time, the castle was surrounded by forests, covering the nine hills of the future city – the Old Town on the opposite side of the river, as well as the
Lesser Town Lesser, from Eliezer (, "Help/Court of my Elohim, God"), is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adolf Lesser (1851–1926), German physician * Aleksander Lesser (1814–1884), Polish painter and art critic * Anton Lesser (born 1952 ...
beneath the existing castle, appeared only later. The English spelling of the city's name is borrowed from French. In the 19th and early 20th centuries it was pronounced in English to rhyme with "vague": it was so pronounced by
Lady Diana Cooper Diana, Viscountess Norwich (née Lady Diana Olivia Winifred Maud Manners; 29 August 1892 – 16 June 1986) was an English actress and aristocrat who was a well-known social figure in London and Paris. As a young woman, she moved in a celebrat ...
(born 1892) on
Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usua ...
in 1969, and it is written to rhyme with "vague" in a verse o
The Beleaguered City
by
Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...
(1839) and also in the limeric
There was an Old Lady of Prague
by Edward Lear (1846). Prague is also called the ''"City of a Hundred
Spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires a ...
s"'', based on a count by 19th century mathematician
Bernard Bolzano Bernard Bolzano (, ; ; ; born Bernardus Placidus Johann Gonzal Nepomuk Bolzano; 5 October 1781 – 18 December 1848) was a Bohemian mathematician, logician, philosopher, theologian and Catholic priest of Italian extraction, also known for his lib ...
; today's count is estimated by the Prague Information Service at 500. Nicknames for Prague have also included: the Golden City, the Mother of Cities and the Heart of Europe.


History

During the thousand years of its existence, Prague grew from a settlement stretching from
Prague Castle Prague Castle ( cs, Pražský hrad; ) is a castle complex in Prague 1 Municipality within Prague, Czech Republic, built in the 9th century. It is the official office of the President of the Czech Republic. The castle was a seat of power for king ...
in the north to the fort of
Vyšehrad Vyšehrad ( Czech for "upper castle") is a historic fort in Prague, Czech Republic, just over 3 km southeast of Prague Castle, on the east bank of the Vltava River. It was probably built in the 10th century. Inside the fort are the Basil ...
in the south, to become the capital of a modern European country.


Early history

The region was settled as early as the Paleolithic age. Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing
Cyriacus Spangenberg Cyriacus Spangenberg (7 June 1528 – 10 February 1604) was a German theologian, Protestant reformer and historian, son of the reformer (1484–1550). Cyriacus was born in Nordhausen. As a student, he was a fellow tenant of Martin Luther in ...
, claimed that the city was founded as Boihaem in c. 1306 BC by an ancient king, Boyya. Around the fifth and fourth century BC, a Celtic tribe appeared in the area, later establishing settlements including an
oppidum An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretchi ...
in Závist, a present-day suburb of Prague, and naming the region of Bohemia, which means "home of the Boii people". In the last century BC, the Celts were slowly driven away by
Germanic tribes The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and e ...
(
Marcomanni The Marcomanni were a Germanic people * * * that established a powerful kingdom north of the Danube, somewhere near modern Bohemia, during the peak of power of the nearby Roman Empire. According to Tacitus and Strabo, they were Suebian. Or ...
, Quadi,
Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the '' History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...
and possibly the Suebi), leading some to place the seat of the
Marcomanni The Marcomanni were a Germanic people * * * that established a powerful kingdom north of the Danube, somewhere near modern Bohemia, during the peak of power of the nearby Roman Empire. According to Tacitus and Strabo, they were Suebian. Or ...
king, Maroboduus, in southern Prague in the suburb now called Závist.Dovid Solomon Ganz, Tzemach Dovid (3rd edition), part 2, Warsaw 1878, pp. 71, 85
online
)
Around the area where present-day Prague stands, the 2nd century map drawn by
Ptolemaios Ptolemy is a name derived from Ancient Greek. Common variants include Ptolemaeus (Latin), Tolomeo (Italian) and Talmai (Hebrew). Etymology Ptolemy is the English form of the Ancient Greek name Πτολεμαῖος (''Ptolemaios''), a derivative o ...
mentioned a Germanic city called ''Casurgis''. In the late 5th century AD, during the great Migration Period following the collapse of the
Western Roman Empire The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period ...
, the Germanic tribes living in Bohemia moved westwards and, probably in the 6th century, the
Slavic tribes This is a list of Slavic peoples and Slavic tribes reported in Late Antiquity and in the Middle Ages, that is, before the year AD 1500. Ancestors *Proto-Indo-Europeans (Proto-Indo-European speakers) ** Proto-Balto-Slavs (common ancestors of B ...
(Venedi) settled the Central Bohemian Region. In the following three centuries, the Czech tribes built several fortified settlements in the area, most notably in the Šárka valley, Butovice and
Levý Hradec Levý Hradec is an early medieval Bohemian Gord (archaeology), gord situated 3 km northwest of Prague borders near Roztoky, in the Czech Republic. This fortified settlement served as the original seat of Bořivoj I, the first known Přemy ...
. The construction of what came to be known as
Prague Castle Prague Castle ( cs, Pražský hrad; ) is a castle complex in Prague 1 Municipality within Prague, Czech Republic, built in the 9th century. It is the official office of the President of the Czech Republic. The castle was a seat of power for king ...
began near the end of the 9th century, expanding a fortified settlement that had existed on the site since the year 800. The first masonry under Prague Castle dates from the year 885 at the latest. The other prominent Prague fort, the Přemyslid fort
Vyšehrad Vyšehrad ( Czech for "upper castle") is a historic fort in Prague, Czech Republic, just over 3 km southeast of Prague Castle, on the east bank of the Vltava River. It was probably built in the 10th century. Inside the fort are the Basil ...
, was founded in the 10th century, some 70 years later than Prague Castle. Prague Castle is dominated by the
cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
, which began construction in 1344, but wasn't completed until the 20th century. The legendary origins of Prague attribute its foundation to the 8th-century Czech duchess and prophetess Libuše and her husband,
Přemysl is a Czech masculine given name. The Polish alternative is Przemysł or Przemysław. Famous bearers Czech royals * Přemysl the Ploughman – mythical founder of the Bohemian royal dynasty of Přemyslids * Přemysl I Otakar – king of Bohe ...
, founder of the
Přemyslid dynasty The Přemyslid dynasty or House of Přemyslid ( cs, Přemyslovci, german: Premysliden, pl, Przemyślidzi) was a Bohemian royal dynasty that reigned in the Duchy of Bohemia and later Kingdom of Bohemia and Margraviate of Moravia (9th century–130 ...
. Legend says that Libuše came out on a rocky cliff high above the Vltava and prophesied: "I see a great city whose glory will touch the stars." She ordered a castle and a town called Praha to be built on the site. The region became the seat of the
duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...
s, and later
kings of Bohemia The Duchy of Bohemia was established in 870 and raised to the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198. Several Bohemian monarchs ruled as non-hereditary kings beforehand, first gaining the title in 1085. From 1004 to 1806, Bohemia was part of the Holy Roman ...
. Under Duke of Bohemia Boleslaus II the Pious the area became a
bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
in 973. Until Prague was elevated to
archbishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...
in 1344, it was under the jurisdiction of the Archbishopric of Mainz. Prague was an important seat for trading where merchants from across Europe settled, including many Jews, as recalled in 965 by the Hispano-Jewish merchant and traveler
Abraham ben Jacob Ibrahim ibn Yaqub ( ar, إبراهيم بن يعقوب ''Ibrâhîm ibn Ya'qûb al-Ṭarṭûshi'' or ''al-Ṭurṭûshî''; he, אברהם בן יעקב, ''Avraham ben Yaʿakov''; 961–62) was a tenth-century Hispano-Arabic, Sephardi Jewish t ...
. The
Old New Synagogue The Old New Synagogue ( cs, Staronová synagoga; german: link=no, Altneu-Synagoge), also called the Altneuschul, situated in Josefov, Prague, is Europe's oldest active synagogue. It is also the oldest surviving medieval synagogue of twin-nave d ...
of 1270 still stands in the city. Prague was also once home to an important
slave market A slave market is a place where slaves are bought and sold. These markets became a key phenomenon in the history of slavery. Slave markets in the Ottoman Empire In the Ottoman Empire during the mid-14th century, slaves were traded in special ...
. At the site of the ford in the Vltava river, King Vladislaus I had the first bridge built in 1170, the Judith Bridge (Juditin most), named in honor of his wife
Judith of Thuringia Judith of Thuringia ( cz, Judita Durynská; – 9 September after 1174), a member of the Ludovingian dynasty, was Queen consort of Bohemia from 1158 until 1172 as the second wife of King Vladislaus II. She was the second Queen of Bohemia after ...
. This bridge was destroyed by a flood in 1342, but some of the original foundation stones of that bridge remain in the river. It was rebuilt and named the Charles Bridge. In 1257, under King Ottokar II,
Malá Strana Malá Strana (Czech for "Little Side (of the River)", ) or more formally Menší Město pražské () is a district of the city of Prague, Czech Republic, and one of its most historic neighbourhoods. In the Middle Ages, it was a dominant center o ...
("Lesser Quarter") was founded in Prague on the site of an older village in what would become the
Hradčany Hradčany (; german: Hradschin), the Castle District, is the district of the city of Prague, Czech Republic surrounding Prague Castle. The castle is one of the biggest in the world at about in length and an average of about wide. Its history ...
(Prague Castle) area. This was the district of the German people, who had the right to administer the law autonomously, pursuant to
Magdeburg rights Magdeburg rights (german: Magdeburger Recht; also called Magdeburg Law) were a set of town privileges first developed by Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (936–973) and based on the Flemish Law, which regulated the degree of internal autonomy within ...
. The new district was on the bank opposite of the Staré Město ("Old Town"), which had
borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...
status and was bordered by a line of walls and fortifications.


Late Middle Ages

Prague flourished during the 14th-century reign (1346–1378) of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and the king of Bohemia of the new
Luxembourg dynasty The House of Luxembourg ( lb, D'Lëtzebuerger Haus; french: Maison de Luxembourg; german: Haus Luxemburg) or Luxembourg dynasty was a royal family of the Holy Roman Empire in the Late Middle Ages, whose members between 1308 and 1437 ruled as kin ...
. As King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, he transformed Prague into an imperial capital and it was at that time by area the third-largest city in Europe (after Rome and
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
). Charles IV ordered the building of the New Town (Nové Město) adjacent to the Old Town and laid out the design himself. The Charles Bridge, replacing the Judith Bridge destroyed in the flood just prior to his reign, was erected to connect the east bank districts to the Malá Strana and castle area. In 1347, he founded Charles University, which remains the oldest university in Central Europe. He began construction of the
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
Saint Vitus Cathedral , native_name_lang = Czech , image = St Vitus Prague September 2016-21.jpg , imagesize = 300px , imagelink = , imagealt = , landscape = , caption ...
, within the largest of the Prague Castle courtyards, on the site of the Romanesque rotunda there. Prague was elevated to an archbishopric in 1344, the year the cathedral was begun. The city had a
mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...
and was a center of trade for German and Italian bankers and merchants. The social order, however, became more turbulent due to the rising power of the
craftsmen Craftsman may refer to: A profession *Artisan, a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative * Master craftsman, an artisan who has achieved such a standard that he may establish his own workshop and take ...
's
guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
s (themselves often torn by internal conflicts), and the increasing number of poor. The Hunger Wall, a substantial fortification wall south of Malá Strana and the castle area, was built during a famine in the 1360s. The work is reputed to have been ordered by Charles IV as a means of providing employment and food to the workers and their families. Charles IV died in 1378. During the reign of his son, King Wenceslaus IV (1378–1419), a period of intense turmoil ensued. During Easter 1389, members of the Prague clergy announced that Jews had desecrated the host (Eucharistic wafer) and the clergy encouraged mobs to pillage, ransack and burn the Jewish quarter. Nearly the entire Jewish population of Prague (3,000 people) was murdered.
Jan Hus Jan Hus (; ; 1370 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and the insp ...
, a theologian and
rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
at the Charles University, preached in Prague. In 1402, he began giving sermons in the
Bethlehem Chapel The Bethlehem Chapel ('' cs, Betlémská kaple, link=no'') is a medieval religious building in the Old Town of Prague, Czech Republic, notable for its connection with the origins of the Bohemian Reformation, especially with the Czech reformer ...
. Inspired by
John Wycliffe John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of ...
, these sermons focused on what were seen as radical reforms of a corrupt Church. Having become too dangerous for the political and religious establishment, Hus was summoned to the Council of Constance, put on trial for
heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...
, and burned at the stake in
Constanz Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...
in 1415. Four years later Prague experienced its first defenestration, when the people rebelled under the command of the Prague priest Jan Želivský. Hus' death, coupled with Czech proto-nationalism and
proto-Protestantism Proto-Protestantism, also called pre-Protestantism, refers to individuals and movements that propagated ideas similar to Protestantism before 1517, which historians usually regard as the starting year for the Reformation era. The relationship be ...
, had spurred the
Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...
. Peasant rebels, led by the general
Jan Žižka Jan Žižka z Trocnova a Kalicha ( en, John Zizka of Trocnov and the Chalice; 1360 – 11 October 1424) was a Czech general – a contemporary and follower of Jan Hus and a Radical Hussite who led the Taborites. Žižka was a successful milit ...
, along with Hussite troops from Prague, defeated Emperor
Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it '' Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...
, in the
Battle of Vítkov Hill The Battle of Vítkov Hill was a part of the Hussite Wars. The battle pitted the forces of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, against Hussite forces under command of Jan Žižka (in English, John Zizka). Vítkov Hill was located on the edge of the ...
in 1420. During the
Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...
when Prague was attacked by "Crusader" and mercenary forces, the city militia fought bravely under the Prague Banner. This swallow-tailed banner is approximately , with a red field sprinkled with small white fleurs-de-lis, and a silver old Town Coat-of-Arms in the center. The words "PÁN BŮH POMOC NAŠE" (The Lord is our Relief/Help) appeared above the coat-of-arms, with a Hussite chalice centered on the top. Near the swallow-tails is a crescent-shaped golden sun with rays protruding. One of these banners was captured by Swedish troops during the Battle of Prague (1648), when they captured the western bank of the
Vltava river Vltava ( , ; german: Moldau ) is the longest river in the Czech Republic, running southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice and Prague, and finally merging with the Labe at M ...
and were repulsed from the eastern bank, they placed it in the Royal Military Museum in Stockholm; although this flag still exists, it is in very poor condition. They also took the
Codex Gigas The ''Codex Gigas'' ("Giant Book"; cs, Obří kniha) is the largest extant medieval illuminated manuscript in the world, at a length of . Very large illuminated bibles were a typical feature of Romanesque monastic book production, but even w ...
and the
Codex Argenteus The Codex Argenteus (Latin for "Silver Book/Codex") is a 6th-century illuminated manuscript, originally containing part of the 4th-century translation of the Christian Bible into the Gothic language. Traditionally ascribed to the Arian bi ...
. The earliest evidence indicates that a
gonfalon The gonfalon, gonfanon, gonfalone (from the early Italian ''confalone'') is a type of heraldic flag or banner, often pointed, swallow-tailed, or with several streamers, and suspended from a crossbar in an identical manner to the ancient Roman ...
with a municipal charge painted on it was used for the Old Town as early as 1419. Since this city militia flag was in use before 1477 and during the Hussite Wars, it is the oldest still preserved municipal flag of Bohemia. In the following two centuries, Prague strengthened its role as a merchant city. Many noteworthy Gothic buildings were erected and
Vladislav Hall Vladislav Hall ( cs, Vladislavský sál) is a large hall within the Prague Castle complex in the Czech Republic, used for large public events of the Bohemian monarchy and the modern Czech state. Built between 1493–1502 by Benedikt Rejt du ...
of the Prague Castle was added.


Habsburg era

In 1526, the Bohemian estates elected Ferdinand I of the
House of Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
. The fervent Catholicism of its members brought them into conflict in Bohemia, and then in Prague, where Protestant ideas were gaining popularity. These problems were not preeminent under Holy Roman Emperor
Rudolf II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Hous ...
, elected King of Bohemia in 1576, who chose Prague as his home. He lived in the Prague Castle, where his court welcomed not only astrologers and magicians but also scientists, musicians, and artists. Rudolf was an art lover as well, and Prague became the capital of European culture. This was a prosperous period for the city: famous people living there in that age include the astronomers
Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe ( ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe; generally called Tycho (14 December 154624 October 1601) was a Danish astronomer, known for his comprehensive astronomical observations, generally considered to be the most accurate of his time. He was ...
and Johannes Kepler, the painter
Arcimboldo Giuseppe Arcimboldo (; also spelled ''Arcimboldi'') (1526 or 1527 – 11 July 1593) was an Italian painter best known for creating imaginative portrait heads made entirely of objects such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish and books. These w ...
, the alchemists
Edward Kelley Sir Edward Kelley or Kelly, also known as Edward Talbot (; 1 August 1555 – 1597/8), was an English Renaissance occultist and scryer. He is best known for working with John Dee in his magical investigations. Besides the professed ability to ...
and John Dee, the poet
Elizabeth Jane Weston Elizabeth Jane Weston ( la, Elisabetha Ioanna Westonia; cs, Alžběta Johana Vestonie) (1581 or 1582, in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire – 23 November 1612, in Prague) was an English-Czech poet, known for her Neo-Latin poetry. She had the unusual ...
, and others. In 1618, the famous second defenestration of Prague provoked the
Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
, a particularly harsh period for Prague and Bohemia. Ferdinand II of Habsburg was deposed, and his place as King of Bohemia taken by
Frederick V, Elector Palatine Frederick V (german: link=no, Friedrich; 26 August 1596 – 29 November 1632) was the Elector Palatine of the Rhine in the Holy Roman Empire from 1610 to 1623, and reigned as King of Bohemia from 1619 to 1620. He was forced to abdicate both ...
; however his army was crushed in the
Battle of White Mountain The Battle of White Mountain ( cz, Bitva na Bílé hoře; german: Schlacht am Weißen Berg) was an important battle in the early stages of the Thirty Years' War. It led to the defeat of the Bohemian Revolt and ensured Habsburg control for the n ...
(1620) not far from the city. Following this in 1621 was an execution of 27 Czech Protestant leaders (involved in the uprising) in Old Town Square and the exiling of many others. Prague was forcibly converted back to Roman Catholicism followed by the rest of Czech lands. The city suffered subsequently during the war under an attack by Electorate of Saxony (1631) and during the Battle of Prague (1648). Prague began a steady decline which reduced the population from the 60,000 it had had in the years before the war to 20,000. In the second half of the 17th century, Prague's population began to grow again.
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
had been in Prague since the end of the 10th century and, by 1708, they accounted for about a quarter of Prague's population. In 1689, a great fire devastated Prague, but this spurred a renovation and a rebuilding of the city. In 1713–14, a major outbreak of
plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...
hit Prague one last time, killing 12,000 to 13,000 people. In 1744,
Frederick the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the S ...
of Prussia invaded Bohemia. He took Prague after a severe and prolonged siege in the course of which a large part of the town was destroyed. In 1757 the
Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
n bombardment destroyed more than one quarter of the city and heavily damaged St. Vitus Cathedral. However a month later, Frederick the Great was defeated and forced to retreat from Bohemia. The economy of Prague continued to improve during the 18th century. The population increased to 80,000 inhabitants by 1771. Many rich merchants and nobles enhanced the city with a host of palaces, churches and gardens full of art and music, creating a Baroque city renowned throughout the world to this day. In 1784, under
Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg lands from November 29, 1780 un ...
, the four municipalities of Malá Strana, Nové Město, Staré Město, and Hradčany were merged into a single entity. The Jewish district, called
Josefov Josefov (also Jewish Quarter; german: Josefstadt) is a town quarter and the smallest cadastral area of Prague, Czech Republic, formerly the Jewish ghetto of the town. It is surrounded by the Old Town. The quarter is often represented by the flag ...
, was included only in 1850. The
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
produced great changes and developments in Prague, as new factories could take advantage of the coal mines and ironworks of the nearby regions. A first suburb,
Karlín Karlín (german: Karolinenthal) is a cadastral area of Prague, part of Prague 8 municipal district, formerly an independent town (which became part of Prague in 1922). It is bordered by the river Vltava and Holešovice to the north, Vítkov ...
, was created in 1817, and twenty years later the population exceeded 100,000. The revolutions in Europe in 1848 also touched Prague, but they were fiercely suppressed. In the following years, the
Czech National Revival The Czech National Revival was a cultural movement which took place in the Czech lands during the 18th and 19th centuries. The purpose of this movement was to revive the Czech language, culture and national identity. The most prominent figures o ...
began its rise, until it gained the majority in the town council in 1861. Prague had a German-speaking majority in 1848, but by 1880 the number of German speakers had decreased to 14% (42,000), and by 1910 to 6.7% (37,000), due to a massive increase of the city's overall population caused by the influx of
Czechs The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, ...
from the rest of Bohemia and
Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The m ...
and the increasing prestige and importance of the Czech language as part of the Czech National Revival.


20th century


First Czechoslovak Republic

World War I ended with the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the creation of Czechoslovakia. Prague was chosen as its capital and Prague Castle as the seat of president
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Tomáš () is a Czech and Slovak given name, equivalent to the name Thomas. It may refer to: * Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937), first President of Czechoslovakia * Tomáš Baťa (1876–1932), Czech footwear entrepreneur * Tomáš Berdyc ...
. At this time Prague was a true European capital with highly developed industry. By 1930, the population had risen to 850,000.


Second World War

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
ordered the German Army to enter Prague on 15 March 1939, and from Prague Castle proclaimed Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate. For most of its history, Prague had been a multi-ethnic city with important Czech, German and (mostly native German-speaking) Jewish populations. From 1939, when the country was occupied by
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, Hitler took over Prague Castle. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, most Jews were deported and killed by the Germans. In 1942, Prague was witness to the assassination of one of the most powerful men in
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( ; ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (inclu ...
—during
Operation Anthropoid On 27 May 1942 in Prague, Reinhard Heydrichthe commander of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), acting governor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, and a principal architect of the Holocaustwas attacked and wounded in an assassinati ...
, accomplished by Czechoslovak national heroes
Jozef Gabčík Jozef Gabčík (; 8 April 1912 – 18 June 1942) was a Slovak soldier in the Czechoslovak Army involved in the Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of acting ''Reichsprotektor'' (Imperial-Protector) of Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, ...
and
Jan Kubiš Jan Kubiš (24 June 1913 – 18 June 1942) was a Czech soldier, one of a team of Czechoslovak British-trained paratroopers sent to eliminate acting Reichsprotektor (Realm-Protector) of Bohemia and Moravia, SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydri ...
. Hitler ordered bloody reprisals. In February 1945, Prague suffered several bombing raids by the
US Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
. 701 people were killed, more than 1,000 people were injured and some buildings, factories and historical landmarks (
Emmaus Monastery The Emmaus Monastery ( cs, Emauzy or ''Emauzský klášter''), called Na Slovanech in the Middle Ages, is an abbey established in 1347 in Prague. It was the only Benedictine monastery of the Kingdom of Bohemia and all Slavic Europe. In the 136 ...
, Faust House,
Vinohrady Synagogue Královské Vinohrady (in English literally "Royal Vineyards" german: Königliche Weinberge) is a cadastral district in Prague. It is so named because the area was once covered in vineyards dating from the 14th century. Vinohrady lies in the muni ...
) were destroyed. Many historic structures in Prague, however, escaped the destruction of the war and the damage was small compared to the total destruction of many other cities in that time. According to American pilots, it was the result of a navigational mistake. In March, a deliberate raid targeted military factories in Prague, killing about 370 people. On 5 May 1945, two days before Germany capitulated, an
uprising Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority. A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...
against Germany occurred. Several thousand Czechs were killed in four days of bloody street fighting, with many atrocities committed by both sides. At daybreak on 9 May, the of the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...
took the city almost unopposed. The majority (about 50,000 people) of the German population of Prague either fled or were expelled by the Beneš decrees in the aftermath of the war.


Cold War

Prague was a city in a country under the military, economic, and political control of the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
(see Iron Curtain and
COMECON The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (, ; English abbreviation COMECON, CMEA, CEMA, or CAME) was an economic organization from 1949 to 1991 under the leadership of the Soviet Union that comprised the countries of the Eastern Bloc#List of s ...
). The world's largest Stalin Monument was unveiled on
Letná Letná is a hill overlooking Prague historic centre and Vltava River just besides Prague Castle. It neighbours Stromovka, the largest park in Prague. The hill belongs to Holešovice and Bubeneč quarters of Prague 7 Prague 7 is a municipal d ...
hill in 1955 and destroyed in 1962. The 4th Czechoslovak Writers' Congress, held in the city in June 1967, took a strong position against the regime. On 31 October 1967 students demonstrated at Strahov. This spurred the new secretary of the
Czechoslovak Communist Party The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia ( Czech and Slovak: ''Komunistická strana Československa'', KSČ) was a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. It was a member of the Comint ...
,
Alexander Dubček Alexander Dubček (; 27 November 1921 – 7 November 1992) was a Slovak politician who served as the First Secretary of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) (''de facto'' leader of Czechoslovak ...
, to proclaim a new deal in his city's and country's life, starting the short-lived season of the "
socialism with a human face Socialism with a human face ( cs, socialismus s lidskou tváří, sk, socializmus s ľudskou tvárou) is a slogan referring to the reformist and democratic socialist programme of Alexander Dubček and his colleagues, agreed at the Presidium of ...
". It was the Prague Spring, which aimed at the renovation of political institutions in a democratic way. The other
Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist repub ...
member countries, except
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
and
Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
, were led by the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
to repress these reforms through the
invasion of Czechoslovakia The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...
and the capital, Prague, on 21 August 1968. The invasion, chiefly by infantry and tanks, effectively suppressed any further attempts at reform. The military occupation of Czechoslovakia by the
Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...
would end only in 1991.
Jan Palach Jan Palach (; 11 August 1948 – 19 January 1969) was a Czech student of history and political economics at Charles University in Prague. His self-immolation was a political protest against the end of the Prague Spring resulting from the 1968 in ...
and
Jan Zajíc Jan Zajíc (July 3, 1950 – February 25, 1969) was a Czech student who committed suicide by self-immolation as a political protest. He was a student of the Střední průmyslová škola železniční (Industrial Highschool of Railways) technica ...
committed suicide by
self-immolation The term self-immolation broadly refers to acts of altruistic suicide, otherwise the giving up of one's body in an act of sacrifice. However, it most often refers specifically to autocremation, the act of sacrificing oneself by setting oneself ...
in January and February 1969 to protest against the " normalization" of the country.


After the Velvet Revolution

In 1989, after riot police beat back a peaceful student demonstration, the
Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...
crowded the streets of Prague, and the capital of
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
benefited greatly from the new mood. In 1993, after the
Velvet Divorce The dissolution of Czechoslovakia ( cs, Rozdělení Československa, sk, Rozdelenie Česko-Slovenska) took effect on December 31, 1992, and was the self-determined split of the federal republic of Czechoslovakia into the independent countries o ...
, Prague became the capital city of the new Czech Republic. From 1995 high-rise buildings began to be built in Prague in large quantities. In the late 1990s, Prague again became an important cultural center of Europe and was notably influenced by globalisation. In 2000, the IMF and
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
summits took place in Prague and anti-globalization riots took place here. In 2002, Prague suffered from widespread floods that damaged buildings and its underground transport system. Prague launched a bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics, but failed to make the candidate city
shortlist A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...
. In June 2009, as the result of financial pressures from the
global recession A global recession is recession that affects many countries around the world—that is, a period of global economic slowdown or declining economic output. Definitions The International Monetary Fund defines a global recession as "a decline i ...
, Prague's officials chose to cancel the city's planned bid for the
2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...
.


Geography

Prague is situated on the
Vltava Vltava ( , ; german: Moldau ) is the longest river in the Czech Republic, running southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice and Prague, and finally merging with the Labe at ...
river. The
Berounka The Berounka is a river in the Czech Republic, long, the biggest left tributary of Vltava, draining an area of . It carries the name Mže () for from its source in Germany, next to the Czech border, until its confluence with the Radbuza in Plze ...
flows into the Vltava in the suburbs of Lahovice. There are 99 watercourses in Prague with a total length of . The longest streams are Rokytka and Botič. There are 3 reservoirs, 37 ponds, and 34 retention reservoirs and dry polders in the city. The largest pond is Velký Počernický with . The largest body of water is Hostivař Reservoir with . In terms of geomorphological division, most of Prague is located in the
Prague Plateau The Prague Plateau ( cs, Pražská plošina) is a plateau and a geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is located in the area of Prague and in the Central Bohemian Region. Geomorphology The Prague Plateau is a mesoregion of the B ...
. In the south the city's territory extends into the
Hořovice Uplands Hořovice (; german: Horschowitz, Horvitz, Horowitz) is a town in Beroun District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,900 inhabitants. Administrative parts Hořovice is made up of only one administrative part. His ...
, in the north it extends into the Central Elbe Table lowland. The highest point is the top of the hill Teleček on the western border of Prague, at above sea level. Notable hills in the centre of Prague are Petřín with and Vítkov with . The lowest point is the Vltava in Suchdol at the place where it leaves the city, at . Prague is located approximately at . Prague is approximately at the same latitude as
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
, Germany;
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, France; and
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, Canada. The northernmost point is at , the southernmost point is at , the westernmost point is at , and the easternmost point is at .


Climate

Prague has an oceanic climate (
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
: ''Cfb'') with
humid continental A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...
(''Dfb'') influences, defined as such by the isotherm. The winters are relatively cold with average temperatures at about freezing point, and with very little sunshine. Snow cover can be common between mid-November and late March although snow accumulations of more than are infrequent. There are also a few periods of mild temperatures in winter. Summers usually bring plenty of sunshine and the average high temperature of . Nights can be quite cool even in summer, though. Precipitation in Prague is rather low (just over per year) since it is located in the rain shadow of the Sudetes and other mountain ranges. The driest season is usually winter while late spring and summer can bring quite heavy rain, especially in form of thundershowers. Temperature inversions are relatively common between mid-October and mid-March bringing foggy, cold days and sometimes moderate air pollution. Prague is also a windy city with common sustained western winds and an average wind speed of that often help break temperature inversions and clear the air in cold months.


Administration


Administrative division

Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic and as such is the regular seat of its central authorities. Since 24 November 1990, it is de facto again a statutory town, but has a specific status of the municipality and the region at the same time. Prague also houses the administrative institutions of the
Central Bohemian Region The Central Bohemian Region ( cz, Středočeský kraj, german: Mittelböhmische Region) is an administrative unit ( cz, kraj) of the Czech Republic, located in the central part of its historical region of Bohemia. Its administrative centre is in ...
. Until 1949, all administrative districts of Prague were formed by the whole one or more cadastral unit, municipality or town. Since 1949, there has been a fundamental change in the administrative division. Since then, the boundaries of many urban districts, administrative districts and city districts are independent of the boundaries of cadastral territories and some cadastral territories are thus divided into administrative and self-governing parts of the city. Cadastral area (for example,
Vinohrady Královské Vinohrady (in English literally "Royal Vineyards" german: Königliche Weinberge) is a cadastral district in Prague. It is so named because the area was once covered in vineyards dating from the 14th century. Vinohrady lies in the muni ...
,
Smíchov Smíchov () is (since 1909) a district of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, and is part of Prague 5. It is on the west bank of the Vltava river. History Between 1945 and 1989, the district contained a monument dedicated to Soviet ta ...
) are still relevant especially for the registration of land and real estate and house numbering. Prague is divided into 10 municipal districts (1–10), 22 administrative districts (1–22), 57 municipal parts, or 112 cadastral areas.


City government

Prague is autonomously administered by the Prague City Assembly, which is elected through municipal elections and consists of 55 to 70 members. Executive body of Prague, elected by the Assembly is a Prague City Council. The municipal office of Prague is called
Prague City Hall Prague City Hall ( Czech: ''Magistrát hlavního města Prahy'') is the municipal and regional office of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. It is formed by the Chief Executive of Prague City Hall and other employees of the City of Prague i ...
. It has 11 members including the
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
and it prepares proposals for the Assembly meetings and ensures that adopted resolutions are fulfilled. The
Mayor of Prague The office of Mayor of Prague was established in 1784. In that year, under Joseph II Joseph II (German: Josef Benedikt Anton Michael Adam; English: ''Joseph Benedict Anthony Michael Adam''; 13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roma ...
is
Czech Pirate Party The Czech Pirate Party or Pirates ( cs, Česká pirátská strana , abbreviated ''Piráti'' ) is a liberal progressive political party in the Czech Republic, founded in 2009. The party was founded as a student-driven grassroots movement campaig ...
member
Zdeněk Hřib Zdeněk Hřib (born 21 May 1981) is a Czech healthcare manager and Czech Pirate Party politician who has served as the Mayor of Prague since November 2018.
.


Population

According to the 2011 census, about 14% of the city’s inhabitants were born outside the Czech Republic, the highest proportion in the country. However, in 2011, 64.8% of the city's population self-identified themselves as
Czechs The Czechs ( cs, Češi, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common ancestry, ...
, which is higher than the national average. Even though official population of Prague hovers around 1.3 million, the real number of people in the city is much higher due to only 65% of its residents being marked as permanently living in the city, these data were taken from mobile phone movements around the city, and bring total population of Prague to about 1.9–2 million, and with additional 300,000 to 400,000 people coming to the city for work, education or shopping, on weekdays there are more than 2 million people in the city. Development of the Prague population since 1378:


Culture

The city is traditionally one of the cultural centres of Europe, hosting many cultural events. Some of the significant cultural institutions include the National Theatre (''Národní Divadlo'') and the
Estates Theatre The Estates Theatre or Stavovské divadlo is a historic theater in Prague, Czech Republic. The Estates Theatre was annexed to the National Theatre in 1948 and currently draws on three artistic ensembles, opera, ballet, and drama, which perform a ...
(''Stavovské or Tylovo'' or ''Nosticovo divadlo''), where the premières of Mozart's '' Don Giovanni'' and ''
La clemenza di Tito ' (''The Clemency of Titus''), K. 621, is an ''opera seria'' in two acts composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Caterino Mazzolà, after Pietro Metastasio. It was started after most of ' (''The Magic Flute''), the last o ...
'' were held. Other major cultural institutions are the
Rudolfinum The Rudolfinum is a building in Prague, Czech Republic. It is designed in the neo-renaissance style and is situated on Jan Palach Square on the bank of the river Vltava. Since its opening in 1885, it has been associated with music and art. Curr ...
which is home to the
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra The Česká filharmonie (Czech Philharmonic) is a symphony orchestra based in Prague. The orchestra's principal concert venue is the Rudolfinum. History The name "Czech Philharmonic Orchestra" appeared for the first time in 1894, as the title ...
and the
Municipal House Municipal House ( cs, Obecní dům) is a civic building that houses Smetana Hall, a celebrated concert venue, in Prague. It is located on Náměstí Republiky next to the Powder Gate in the centre of the city. History The Royal Court palace us ...
which is home to the
Prague Symphony Orchestra The Prague Symphony Orchestra (Prague, Czech Republic, cs, Symfonický orchestr hlavního města Prahy ''FOK'') is a Czech orchestra based in Prague. The orchestra has traditionally been known by the acronym 'FOK', standing for 'Film-Opera-Koncert' ...
. The
Prague State Opera The State Opera (Czech: Státní opera) is an opera house in Prague, Czech Republic. It is part of the National Theatre of the Czech Republic, founded by Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic in 1992. The theatre itself originally opened in ...
(Státní opera) performs at the Smetana Theatre. The city has many world-class museums, including the National Museum (Národní muzeum), the Museum of the Capital City of Prague, the
Jewish Museum in Prague The Jewish Museum in Prague (Czech: Židovské muzeum v Praze) is a museum of Jewish heritage in the Czech Republic and one of the most visited museums in Prague. Its collection of Judaica is one of the largest in the world, about 40,000 objects ...
, the
Alfons Mucha Alfons Maria Mucha (; 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), known internationally as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator and graphic artist, living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, best known for his distinctly stylized and decora ...
Museum, the African-Prague Museum, the
Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague Founded in 1885, the Prague Museum of Decorative Arts ( cz, Uměleckoprůmyslové muzeum v Praze or UPM) is housed in a Neo-Renaissance edifice built from 1897 to 1899 after the designs of architect Josef Schulz. It opened in 1900 with exhibitions ...
, the
Náprstek Museum The Náprstek Museum is a museum of Asian, African and Native American art located in Bethlehem Square ( cs, Betlemske namesti) in Prague, Czech Republic. It is one of several permanent exhibitions of the National Museum. The museum is situate ...
(Náprstkovo Muzeum), the
Josef Sudek Gallery The Josef Sudek Gallery ( cs, Galerie Josefa Sudka) is near Hradčany (Úvoz 24) in Prague, in a house where Josef Sudek (b. 1896 Kolín, d. 1976 Prague) lived from 1959 until his death. Part of his photographic output was transferred to the MDA i ...
and The Josef Sudek Studio, the
National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, or significant wo ...
, the
National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
, which manages the largest collection of art in the Czech Republic and the Kunsthalle Praha, the newest museum in the city. There are hundreds of concert halls, galleries, cinemas and music clubs in the city. It hosts
music festivals A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or hol ...
including the
Prague Spring International Music Festival The Prague Spring International Music Festival ( cs, Mezinárodní hudební festival Pražské jaro, commonly cs, Pražské jaro, Prague Spring) is a classical music festival held every year in Prague, Czech Republic, with symphony orchestras an ...
, the
Prague Autumn International Music Festival Prague Autumn International Music Festival (1991–2008) was the second largest classical music festival in Prague held annually in Prague Rudolfinum in September. It was organised under the auspices of Václav Klaus, president of the Czech Republ ...
, the
Prague International Organ Festival Prague International Organ Festival is a festival for Organ (music), organ lovers, held annually in Prague, presenting a series of concerts by well-known organ virtuosos from all over the world. The inaugural edition was in 1996. The venue where t ...
, the Dvořák Prague International Music Festival, and the
Prague International Jazz Festival Prague International Jazz Festival is a traditional jazz festival held annually in Reduta Jazz Club, in Prague, Czech Republic. In 2014 the festival celebrates its anniversary - 50 years from its establishment in 1964. Prague's festival belongs to ...
. Film festivals include the
Febiofest Prague International Film Festival - Febiofest is one of the largest film festivals in the Czech Republic and the second most prestigious festival in the country (after Karlovy Vary). The festival presents a wide spectrum of contemporary and ret ...
, the
One World Film Festival One World ( Czech: ''Jeden svět'') is the largest human rights film festival in the world (125,947 spectators in 2018), held annually in Prague and other 36 cities of the Czech Republic, with a selection later shown in Brussels and other countries ...
and Echoes of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The city also hosts the
Prague Writers' Festival The Prague Writers' Festival (PWF) is an annual literary festival in Prague, Czech Republic, taking place every spring since 1991. In 2005 the festival was also held in Vienna. Many of the events are broadcast via the internet. International lite ...
, the Prague Folklore Days, Prague Advent Choral Meeting the Summer Shakespeare Festival, the
Prague Fringe Festival The Prague Fringe Festival is an annual event held every May and June in Prague, Czech Republic. It is a fringe festival, on the model of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh F ...
, the World Roma Festival, as well as the hundreds of Vernissages and
fashion show A fashion show (French ''défilé de mode'') is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase their upcoming line of clothing and/or accessories during a fashion week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the Spring/Summer and Fal ...
s. Many films have been made at
Barrandov Studios Barrandov Studios is a set of film studios in Prague, Czech Republic. It is the largest film studio in the country and one of the largest in Europe. Several major Hollywood productions have been made here, including '' Mission Impossible'', ' ...
and at Prague Studios. Hollywood films set in Prague include '' Mission Impossible, xXx,
Blade II ''Blade II'' is a 2002 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Blade, directed by Guillermo del Toro and written by David S. Goyer. A sequel to ''Blade'' (1998), it is the second installment in the ''Blade'' franchise, foll ...
,
Children of Dune ''Children of Dune'' is a 1976 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, the third in his ''Dune'' series of six novels. It was originally serialized in ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' in 1976, and was the last ''Dune'' novel to be serialize ...
,
Alien vs. Predator ''Alien vs. Predator'' (also known as ''Aliens versus Predator'' and ''AVP'') is a science-fiction action horror media franchise created by comic book writers Randy Stradley and Chris Warner. The series is a crossover between, and part of, th ...
,
Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * ...
,
Chronicles of Narnia ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' is a series of seven high fantasy novels by British author C. S. Lewis. Illustrated by Pauline Baynes and originally published between 1950 and 1956, ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' has been adapted for radio, telev ...
,
Hellboy Hellboy is a fictional superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in ''San Diego Comic-Con Comics'' #2 (August 1993), and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossover ...
, EuroTrip,
Van Helsing A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across ...
,
Red Tails ''Red Tails'' is a 2012 American war film directed by Anthony Hemingway in his feature film directorial debut, and starring Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr. The film is about the Tuskegee Airmen, a group of African-American United States ...
,'' and '' Spider-Man: Far From Home''. Other Czech films shot in Prague include '' Empties'', ''
Amadeus Amadeus may refer to: *Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), prolific and influential composer of classical music *Amadeus (name), a given name and people with the name * ''Amadeus'' (play), 1979 stage play by Peter Shaffer * ''Amadeus'' (film), ...
'' and '' The Fifth Horseman is Fear''. Also, the romantic music video "
Never Tear Us Apart "Never Tear Us Apart" is a song by Australian rock band INXS, released in August 1988 as the fourth single from their sixth studio album, ''Kick''. Background and composition The music was written by keyboardist Andrew Farriss, who recorded ...
" by INXS, " Diamonds from Sierra Leone" by
Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
was shot in the city, and features shots of the Charles Bridge and the Astronomical Clock, among other landmarks. Rihanna's " Don't Stop the Music" video was filmed at Prague's Radost FX Club. The city was also the setting for the film ''
Dungeons and Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...
'' in 2000. The music video " Silver and Cold" by
AFI AFI may refer to: * ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol * Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer * AFI (band), an American rock band ** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...
, an American rock band, was also filmed in Prague. Many Indian films have also been filmed in the city including '' Yuvraaj'', '' Drona'' and ''
Rockstar Rock Star or Rockstar may refer to: Films * ''Rock Star'' (2001 film), an American film starring Mark Wahlberg * ''Rockstar'' (2011 film), an Indian Hindi-language film by Imtiaz Ali * ''Rockstar'' (2015 film), an Indian Malayalam-language fi ...
''. Early 2000s europop hit "
Something Something may refer to: Philosophy and language *Something (concept) *Something, an English indefinite pronoun Music Albums * ''Something'' (Chairlift album), 2012 * ''Something'' (Shirley Bassey album), 1970 * ''Something'' (Shirley Scott ...
" by "
Lasgo Lasgo were a Belgian electronic music group. The group formed in 1999 was composed of Evi Goffin, David Vervoort, Peter Luts, and Dave McCullen). Peter Luts confirmed on Belgian radio in 2008 that Evi Goffin was not returning to the band, after ...
" was filmed at the central train station in Prague.
Video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
s set in Prague include '' Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness,
Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb ''Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb'' is a 2003 action-adventure video game developed by The Collective and published by LucasArts for the Xbox, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and OS X. It features cover art by Drew Struzan. The game is an a ...
, Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption, Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix, Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon, Still Life, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3'' and '' Deus Ex: Mankind Divided''. With the growth of low-cost airlines in Europe, Prague has become a weekend city destination allowing tourists to visit its museums and cultural sites as well as try its Czech beers and cuisine. The city has many buildings by renowned architects, including
Adolf Loos Adolf Franz Karl Viktor Maria Loos (; 10 December 1870 – 23 August 1933) was an Austrian and Czechoslovak architect, influential European theorist, and a polemicist of modern architecture. He was an inspiration to modernism and a widely- ...
(
Villa Müller The Villa Müller ( cs, Müllerova vila, german: Haus Müller) is a Modernist villa in Prague, Czech Republic built in 1930. It was designed by Adolf Loos as a residence for František Müller, co-owner of the Kapsa-Müller construction company f ...
),
Frank O. Gehry Frank Owen Gehry, , FAIA (; ; born ) is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions. His works are considered ...
(
Dancing House The Dancing House ( cs, Tančící dům), or Fred and Ginger, is the nickname given to the Nationale-Nederlanden building on the Rašínovo nábřeží ( Rašín Embankment) in Prague, Czech Republic. It was designed by the Croatian-Czech archit ...
) and
Jean Nouvel Jean Nouvel (; born 12 August 1945) is a French architect. Nouvel studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was a founding member of ''Mars 1976'' and '' Syndicat de l'Architecture'', France’s first labor union for architects. He has o ...
(
Golden Angel The Golden Angel ''(Czech: Zlatý Anděl)'' is an administrative complex situated in Prague. The designer was French architect Jean Nouvel. The structure is located in the immediate vicinity of The Angel Crossroad (Křižovatka Anděl) which was ...
). Recent major events held in Prague: *
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...
and
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
Summit 2000 *
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
Summit 2002 *
International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
Session 2004 *
IAU The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreach ...
General Assembly 2006 (
Definition of planet The definition of ''planet'', since the word was coined by the ancient Greeks, has included within its scope a wide range of celestial bodies. Greek astronomers employed the term (), 'wandering stars', for star-like objects which apparently m ...
) *EU & USA Summit 2009 *
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...
Presidency of the Council of the European Union The presidency of the Council of the European Union is responsible for the functioning of the Council of the European Union, which is the co-legislator of the EU legislature alongside the European Parliament. It rotates among the member state ...
2009 *USA & Russia Summit 2010 (signing of the New START treaty)


Cuisine

In 2008, the Allegro restaurant received the first Michelin star in the whole of the post-Communist part of Central Europe. It retained its star until 2011. , there were just two Michelin-starred restaurants in Prague: La Degustation Bohême Bourgeoise and Field. Another six have been awarded Michelin's Bib Gourmand: Bistrøt 104, Divinis, Eska, Maso a Kobliha, Na Kopci and Sansho. However, as of 2022, there are 27 Michelin-starred restaurants in Prague which still include La Degustation Bohême Bourgeoise and Field. In Malá Strana, Staré Město,
Žižkov Žižkov is a cadastral district of Prague, Czech Republic. Most of Žižkov lies in the municipal and administrative district of Prague 3, except for very small parts which are in Prague 8 and Prague 10. Prior to 1922, Žižkov was an indep ...
and
Nusle Nusle () is a district of Prague. It became part of the city in 1922. Location Part of Nusle is in Prague 2 while most is in Prague 4. Nusle is located south of the city centre in ''Nuselské údolí'' (Nusle Valley) on the Botič brook. It bo ...
there are hundreds of restaurants, bars and pubs, especially with Czech beer. Prague also hosts the Czech Beer Festival (Český pivní festival), which is the largest
beer festival A beer festival is an event at which a variety of beers are available for purchase. There may be a theme, for instance beers from a particular area, or a particular brewing style such as winter ales. Asia * Singapore holds an annual Beer Festiva ...
in the Czech Republic held for 17 days every year in May. At the festival, more than 70 brands of Czech beer can be tasted. There are several microbrewery festivals throughout the year as well.
Czech beer Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...
has a long history, with brewing taking place in
Břevnov Monastery Břevnov Monastery ( cs, Břevnovský klášter, german: Stift Breunau) is a Benedictine archabbey in the Břevnov district of Prague, Czech Republic. It was founded by Saint Adalbert, the second Bishop of Prague, in 993 AD with the support of ...
in 993. Prague is home to historical breweries
Staropramen Staropramen Brewery (Pivovary Staropramen s.r.o.) in the Smíchov district of Prague is the second largest brewery in the Czech Republic. It was founded in 1869 and the brand name Staropramen, literally meaning “old spring”, was registered ...
(Praha 5),
U Fleků U Fleků is a pub and microbrewery in Prague, Czech Republic. It occupies buildings around a central courtyard at Křemencova 11 in New Town, (Praha 1), not far from the National Theatre. The front facade of the building has an old, highly deco ...
,
U Medvídků U Medvídků (formerly ''U Nedwidku'' or ''U černého medvěda'', ') is a historical brewery house located in Prague's Old Town (Prague), Old Town. The pub and the brewery ranks among the oldest in Europe. History Archaeologists trace the house' ...
, U Tří růží,
Strahov Monastery Strahov Monastery ( cs, Strahovský klášter) is a Premonstratensian abbey founded in 1143 by Jindřich Zdík, Bishop John of Prague, and Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia. It is located in Strahov, Prague, Czech Republic. History The founding of ...
Brewery (Praha 1) and
Břevnov Monastery Břevnov Monastery ( cs, Břevnovský klášter, german: Stift Breunau) is a Benedictine archabbey in the Břevnov district of Prague, Czech Republic. It was founded by Saint Adalbert, the second Bishop of Prague, in 993 AD with the support of ...
Brewery (Praha 6). Among many microbreweries are: Novoměstský, Pražský most u Valšů, Národní, Boršov, Loď pivovar, U Dobřenských, U Dvou koček, U Supa (Praha 1), Pivovarský dům (Praha 2), Sousedský pivovar Bašta (Praha 4), Suchdolský Jeník, Libocký pivovar (Praha 6), Marina (Praha 7), U Bulovky (Praha 8), Beznoska, Kolčavka (Praha 9), Vinohradský pivovar, Zubatý pes, Malešický mikropivovar (Praha 10), Jihoměstský pivovar (Praha 11), Lužiny (Praha 13), Počernický pivovar (Praha 14) and Hostivar (Praha 15).


Economy

Prague's economy accounts for 25% of the Czech GDP making it the highest performing regional economy of the country. As of 2019, its GDP per capita in
purchasing power standard Purchasing power parity (PPP) is the measurement of prices in different countries that uses the prices of specific goods to compare the absolute purchasing power of the countries' currencies. PPP is effectively the ratio of the price of a basket ...
is €63,900, making it the third best performing region in the EU at 205 per cent of the EU-27 average in 2019. Prague employs almost a fifth of the entire Czech workforce, and its wages are significantly above average (≈+20%). In 4Q/2020, during the pandemic, average salaries available in Prague reached CZK 45.944 (≈
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...
1,800) per month, an annual increase of 4%, which was nevertheless lower than national increase of 6.5% both in nominal and real terms. (Inflation in the Czech Republic was 3.2% in 4Q/2020.) Since 1990, the city's economic structure has shifted from industrial to service-oriented. Industry is present in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, printing, food processing, manufacture of transport equipment, computer technology, and electrical engineering. In the service sector, financial and commercial services, trade, restaurants, hospitality and public administration are the most significant.
Services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...
account for around 80 per cent of employment. There are 800,000 employees in Prague, including 120,000 commuters. The number of (legally registered) foreign residents in Prague has been increasing in spite of the country's economic downturn. As of March 2010, 148,035 foreign workers were reported to be living in the city making up about 18 per cent of the workforce, up from 131,132 in 2008. Approximately one-fifth of all investment in the Czech Republic takes place in the city. Almost one-half of the national income from tourism is spent in Prague. The city offers approximately 73,000 beds in accommodation facilities, most of which were built after 1990, including almost 51,000 beds in hotels and boarding houses. From the late 1990s to late 2000s, the city was a common filming location for international productions such as Hollywood and Bollywood motion pictures. A combination of architecture, low costs and the existing motion picture infrastructure have proven attractive to international film production companies. The modern economy of Prague is largely service and export-based and, in a 2010 survey, the city was named the best city in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) for business. In 2005, Prague was deemed among the three best cities in Central and Eastern Europe according to ''
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Eco ...
s livability rankings. The city was named as a top-tier nexus city for innovation across multiple sectors of the global innovation economy, placing 29th globally out of 289 cities, ahead of
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
and
Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
for innovation in 2010 in 2thinknow annual analysts
Innovation Cities Index Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entity ...
.
Na příkopě Na příkopě (literally "On the moat"), informally also ''Na Příkopě'', ''Na Příkopech'' or ''Příkopy'', is a street in the center of Prague, Czech Republic, connecting Wenceslas Square with the Republic Square. It separates the Old Town ...
is the most expensive street among all the states of the V4. In 2017, with the amount of rent €2,640 (CZK 67,480) per square meter per year, ranked on 22nd place among the most expensive streets in the world. The second most expensive is Pařížská street. In the Eurostat research, Prague ranked fifth among Europe's 271 regions in terms of gross domestic product per inhabitant, achieving 172 per cent of the EU average. It ranked just above Paris and well above the country as a whole, which achieved 80 per cent of the EU average. Companies with highest turnover in the region in 2014: Prague is also the site of some of the most important offices and institutions of the Czech Republic * President of the Czech Republic *The
Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...
and both houses of
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
*Ministries and other national offices (Industrial Property Office,
Czech Statistical Office The Czech Statistical Office ( cs, Český statistický úřad) is the main organization which collects, analyzes and disseminates statistical information for the benefit of the various parts of the local and national governments of the Czech Re ...
, National Security Authority etc.) *
Czech National Bank The Czech National Bank, ( cs, Česká národní banka, ČNB) is the central bank and financial market supervisor in the Czech Republic, headquartered in Prague. It is and a member of the European System of Central Banks. It was established on ...
*
Czech Television Czech Television ( cs, Česká televize, italics=no ; abbreviation: ČT) is a public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting seven channels. Established after the Velvet Revolution in 1992, it is the successor to Czechoslov ...
and other major broadcasters *
Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...
 –
Radio Liberty Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
* Galileo global navigation project *
Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic The Czech Academy of Sciences (abbr. CAS, cs, Akademie věd České republiky, abbr. AV ČR) was established in 1992 by the Czech National Council as the Czech successor of the former Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and its tradition goes back ...


Tourism

Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, Prague has become one of the world's most popular tourist destinations. Prague suffered considerably less damage during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
than some other major cities in the region, allowing most of its historic architecture to stay true to form. It contains one of the world's most pristine and varied collections of architecture, from Romanesque, to
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
,
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
, Baroque,
Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
,
Neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range ...
,
Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
, Art Nouveau,
Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
, Neo-Classical and ultra-modern. Prague is classified as an "Alpha-" global city according to
GaWC The Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC) is a think tank that studies the relationships between world cities in the context of globalization. It is based in the geography department of Loughborough University in Leicestershire ...
studies, comparable to
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
,
Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
and
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
Prague ranked sixth in the Tripadvisor world list of best destinations in 2016. Its rich history makes it a popular tourist destination, and the city receives more than 8.4 million international visitors annually, .


Main attractions


Hradčany and Lesser Town (Malá Strana)

*
Prague Castle Prague Castle ( cs, Pražský hrad; ) is a castle complex in Prague 1 Municipality within Prague, Czech Republic, built in the 9th century. It is the official office of the President of the Czech Republic. The castle was a seat of power for king ...
with the
St. Vitus Cathedral , native_name_lang = Czech , image = St Vitus Prague September 2016-21.jpg , imagesize = 300px , imagelink = , imagealt = , landscape = , caption ...
which stores the Czech Crown Jewels *The picturesque
Charles Bridge Charles Bridge ( cs, Karlův most ) is a medieval stone arch bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the early 15th century.; The ...
(Karlův most) *The Baroque Saint Nicholas Church * Church of Our Lady Victorious and
Infant Jesus of Prague The Infant Jesus of Prague ( cs, Pražské Jezulátko: es, Niño Jesús de Praga) is a 16th-century wax-coated wooden statue of the Child Jesus holding a '' globus cruciger'' of Spanish origin, now located in the Discalced Carmelite Church o ...
*
Písek Gate Písek Gate ( cs, Písecká brána), also called Bruska Gate ( cs, Bruská brána) is a former city gate of ''Baroque'' fortification of Prague, Czech Republic. Once belonging to the fortification section called Marian Walls ( cs, Mariánské hra ...
, one of the last preserved city gate of Baroque fortification *Petřín Hill with
Petřín Lookout Tower The Petřín Lookout Tower (Czech: ''Petřínská rozhledna'') is a steel-framework tower tall on Petřín Hill in Prague, built in 1891. It resembles the Eiffel Tower and was used as an observation tower as well as a transmission tower. Today ...
, Mirror Maze and
Petřín funicular The Petřín funicular is a funicular railway in the Czech capital city of Prague. It links the Malá Strana district with the top of Petřín () hill. The funicular is operated by the tramway division of Prague Integrated Transport, the loca ...
* Lennon Wall *The
Franz Kafka Museum The Franz Kafka Museum is a museum located in Prague dedicated to the author Franz Kafka. The museum hosts a number of first edition Kafka books. All other exhibits like letters, diaries and drawings created by Kafka are facsimiles, i.e. copies f ...
*
Kampa Island Kampa (also ''Na Kampě'') is an island in the Vltava river in central Prague on the side of Malá Strana. Charles Bridge crosses its northern tip and is connected to the island by the street ulice Na Kampě. It is separated from Malá Strana by a ...
, an island with a view of the Charles Bridge *The Baroque
Wallenstein Palace Wallenstein Palace ( cs, Valdštejnský palác) is a Baroque palace in Malá Strana, Prague, that served as a residence for Imperial Generalissimo Albrecht von Wallenstein and now houses the Senate of the Czech Republic. History The original ...
with its garden


Old Town (Staré Město) and Josefov

*The
Astronomical Clock An astronomical clock, horologium, or orloj is a clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information, such as the relative positions of the Sun, Moon, zodiacal constellations, and sometimes major planets. Definition ...
(Orloj) on Old Town City Hall *The Gothic
Church of Our Lady before Týn The Church of Mother of God before Týn (in Czech ''Kostel Matky Boží před Týnem'', also ''Týnský chrám'' (''Týn Church'') or just ''Týn''), often translated as Church of Our Lady before Týn, is a Gothic church and a dominant feature ...
(Kostel Matky Boží před Týnem) from the 14th century with 80 m high towers *
Stone Bell House The Stone Bell House is located at the Old Town Square in Prague. It is located next to the Kinský Palace, on the corner of Old Town Square and Týnská street. Origin of the name The house is named after the stone bell embedded in the outside ...
*The vaulted Gothic
Old New Synagogue The Old New Synagogue ( cs, Staronová synagoga; german: link=no, Altneu-Synagoge), also called the Altneuschul, situated in Josefov, Prague, is Europe's oldest active synagogue. It is also the oldest surviving medieval synagogue of twin-nave d ...
(Staronová Synagoga) of 1270 * Old Jewish Cemetery *
Powder Tower A powder tower (german: Pulverturm), occasionally also powder house (''Pulverhaus''), was a building used by the military or by mining companies, frequently a tower, to store gunpowder or, later, explosives. They were common until the 20th centu ...
(Prašná brána), a Gothic tower of the old city gates * Spanish Synagogue with its elaborate interior decoration * Old Town Square (Staroměstské náměstí) with gothic and baroque architectural styles *The art nouveau
Municipal House Municipal House ( cs, Obecní dům) is a civic building that houses Smetana Hall, a celebrated concert venue, in Prague. It is located on Náměstí Republiky next to the Powder Gate in the centre of the city. History The Royal Court palace us ...
, a major civic landmark and concert hall known for its Art Nouveau architectural style and political history in the Czech Republic. *
Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague Founded in 1885, the Prague Museum of Decorative Arts ( cz, Uměleckoprůmyslové muzeum v Praze or UPM) is housed in a Neo-Renaissance edifice built from 1897 to 1899 after the designs of architect Josef Schulz. It opened in 1900 with exhibitions ...
, with an extensive collections including glass, furniture, textile, toys, Art Nouveau, Cubism and Art Deco *
Clam-Gallas Palace The Clam-Gallas Palace ( cs, Clam-Gallasovský palác) is a Baroque palace in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. The building is situated on the corner of Husova Street and Mariánské Square, in Prague Old Town. History The palace wa ...
, a baroque palace from 1713 *
Church of St. Martin in the Wall The Church of St. Martin in the Wall is a Gothic church with Romanesque grounds, situated in the Old Town (Prague), Old Town of Prague, Czech Republic. It was built between 1178 and 1187 in the village of Újezd, thereafter known as Újezd u ...
*Colloredo-Mansfeld Palace, with elements of High Baroque and the later
Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
and Second-Rococo adaptations. Known today for its well-preserved dance hall


New Town (Nové Město)

*Busy and historic
Wenceslas Square Wenceslas Square ( Czech: , colloquially ''Václavák'' ) is one of the main city squares and the centre of the business and cultural communities in the New Town of Prague, Czech Republic. Many historical events occurred there, and it is a tra ...
*The neo-renaissance National Museum with large scientific and historical collections at the head of
Wenceslas Square Wenceslas Square ( Czech: , colloquially ''Václavák'' ) is one of the main city squares and the centre of the business and cultural communities in the New Town of Prague, Czech Republic. Many historical events occurred there, and it is a tra ...
. It is the largest museum in the Czech Republic, covering disciplines from the natural sciences to specialized areas of the social sciences. The staircase of the building offers a nice view of the New Town. *The National Theatre, a neo-Renaissance building with golden roof, alongside the banks of the Vltava river *The
deconstructivist Deconstructivism is a movement of postmodern architecture which appeared in the 1980s. It gives the impression of the fragmentation of the constructed building, commonly characterised by an absence of obvious harmony, continuity, or symmetry. ...
Dancing House The Dancing House ( cs, Tančící dům), or Fred and Ginger, is the nickname given to the Nationale-Nederlanden building on the Rašínovo nábřeží ( Rašín Embankment) in Prague, Czech Republic. It was designed by the Croatian-Czech archit ...
(Fred and Ginger Building) *
Charles Square Charles Square ( cs, Karlovo náměstí) is a city square in the New Town of Prague, Czech Republic. At roughly 80,550 m² it is one of the largest squares in the world and was the largest town square of the medieval Europe. Founded in 1348 ...
, the largest medieval square in Europe (now turned into a park) *The
Emmaus monastery The Emmaus Monastery ( cs, Emauzy or ''Emauzský klášter''), called Na Slovanech in the Middle Ages, is an abbey established in 1347 in Prague. It was the only Benedictine monastery of the Kingdom of Bohemia and all Slavic Europe. In the 136 ...
and "Prague to Its Victorious Sons" at Palacky Square (Palackého náměstí) *The museum of the Heydrich assassination in the crypt of the
Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius The Saints Cyril and Methodius Cathedral in Nové Město, Prague, the Czech Republic, is the principal Czech and Slovak Orthodox Church. History Early history According to oral tradition, the site where Saints Cyril and Methodius Cathedral sta ...
* Stiassny's Jubilee Synagogue is the largest in Prague *The Mucha Museum, showcasing the Art Nouveau works of
Alphonse Mucha Alfons Maria Mucha (; 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), known internationally as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator and graphic artist, living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, best known for his distinctly stylized and decorat ...
*
Church of St. Apollinaire, Prague The Church of St. Apollinaire is located in New Town in Prague in the street Apolinarska on the hill called Vetrov. This Gothic church was built approximately between years 1360–1390. The church was established by Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor ...
*
Church of Saint Michael the Archangel in Prague Church of Saint Michael the Archangel is a church situated in Prague, Czech Republic. It was built in Romanesque and Gothic style and later rebuilt in Baroque style. The priest and church reformer Jan Hus celebrated masses in the church. The chur ...
*
Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and St. Charles the Great, Prague The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and St. Charles the Great is located in the Karlov area of Prague. The originally Gothic architecture, Gothic church was rebuilt and augmented in Baroque architecture, baroque style. The church is a p ...
*
Church of Our Lady on the Lawn The Gothic Church of Our Lady on the Lawn (Na Slupi) is located in the valley of the Prague Botič Stream below Vyšehrad in the New Town. It is quite a small Gothic building which was built beside the monastery of Servites. The church is dedicat ...
* St. Wenceslas Church (Zderaz) * St. Stephen's Church


Vinohrady and Žižkov

* National Monument in Vitkov with a large bronze equestrian statue of
Jan Žižka Jan Žižka z Trocnova a Kalicha ( en, John Zizka of Trocnov and the Chalice; 1360 – 11 October 1424) was a Czech general – a contemporary and follower of Jan Hus and a Radical Hussite who led the Taborites. Žižka was a successful milit ...
in Vítkov Park, Žižkov –
Prague 3 Prague 3 (formally the ''Prague 3 Municipal District'', cs, Městská čast Praha 3), is a second-tier municipality in Prague. It is geographically identical to the national administrative district (''správní obvod'') and city administrative ...
*The neo-Gothic Church of St. Ludmila at Míru Square in
Vinohrady Královské Vinohrady (in English literally "Royal Vineyards" german: Königliche Weinberge) is a cadastral district in Prague. It is so named because the area was once covered in vineyards dating from the 14th century. Vinohrady lies in the muni ...
*
Žižkov Television Tower The Žižkov Television Tower ( cs, Žižkovský vysílač) is a unique transmitter tower built in Prague between 1985 and 1992. Designed by the architect Václav Aulický and the structural engineer Jiří Kozák, it stands high above the city's ...
* New Jewish Cemetery in Olšany, location of
Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...
's grave –
Prague 3 Prague 3 (formally the ''Prague 3 Municipal District'', cs, Městská čast Praha 3), is a second-tier municipality in Prague. It is geographically identical to the national administrative district (''správní obvod'') and city administrative ...
*The Roman Catholic Sacred Heart Church at Jiřího z Poděbrad Square *The
Vinohrady Královské Vinohrady (in English literally "Royal Vineyards" german: Königliche Weinberge) is a cadastral district in Prague. It is so named because the area was once covered in vineyards dating from the 14th century. Vinohrady lies in the muni ...
grand Neo-Renaissance, Art Nouveau, Pseudo Baroque, and Neo-Gothic buildings in the area between Míru Square,
Jiřího z Poděbrad Square Jiřího z Poděbrad Square (''George of Poděbrady Square'', officially: ''náměstí Jiřího z Poděbrad'') is located in Vinohrady district in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. It is dominated by Art Nouveau Church of the Most Sacred ...
and Havlíčkovy sady park


Other places

* Vyšehrad Castle with
Basilica of St Peter and St Paul The Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul is a neo-Gothic church in Vyšehrad fortress in Prague, Czech Republic. Founded in 1070–1080 by the Czech King Vratislav II, the Romanesque basilica suffered a fire in the year 1249 and has been rebuilt in ...
,
Vyšehrad cemetery Vyšehrad ( Czech for "upper castle") is a historic fort in Prague, Czech Republic, just over 3 km southeast of Prague Castle, on the east bank of the Vltava River. It was probably built in the 10th century. Inside the fort are the Basil ...
and Prague oldest Rotunda of St. Martin *The
Prague Metronome The Metronome is a functioning metronome in Letná Park, overlooking the Vltava River and the city center of Prague. It was erected in 1991, on the plinth left vacant by the demolition in the spring of 1963 of an enormous monument to former ...
at
Letná Park Letná Park (in Czech ''Letenské sady'') is a large park on Letná hill, built on a plateau above steep embankments along the Vltava River in Prague, Czech Republic. Letná's elevation and location afford commanding views of the Prague Old Tow ...
, a giant, functional metronome that looms over the city *
Prague Zoo Prague Zoological Garden (Czech: ''Zoologická zahrada hl. m. Prahy'') is a zoo in Prague, Czech Republic. It was opened in 1931 with the goal to "advance the study of zoology, protect wildlife, and educate the public" in the district of Troja in ...
in Troja, selected as the 7th best zoo in the world by ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' magazine in 2007 and the 4th best by TripAdvisor in 2015 * Industrial Palace (Průmyslový palác), Křižík's Light fountain, funfair Lunapark and Sea World Aquarium in Výstaviště compound in
Holešovice Holešovice () is a district in the north of Prague situated on a meander of the River Vltava, which makes up the main part of the district Prague 7 (an insignificant part belongs to Prague 1). In the past it was a heavily industrial suburb; ...
*
Letohrádek Hvězda Letohrádek Hvězda (, translating into English as "Star Villa" or "Star Summer Palace") is a Renaissance villa situated in a game reserve of the same name ('' Obora Hvězda'') in Liboc, Prague 6, 7 kilometres west of Prague city centre. The su ...
(Star Villa) in
Liboc Liboc is a district of the city of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. It is part of Prague 6, located near Divoká Šárka. The Prague British International School Vlastina Campus is in Liboc; it formerly belonged to the pre-merger Prague ...
, a renaissance villa in the shape of a six-pointed star surrounded by a game reserve *
National Gallery in Prague The National Gallery Prague ( cz, Národní galerie Praha, NGP), formerly the National Gallery in Prague (), is a state-owned art gallery in Prague, which manages the largest collection of art in the Czech Republic and presents masterpieces of Cze ...
with large collection of Czech and international paintings and sculptures by artists such as
Mucha Mucha (; Czech and Slovak feminine: Muchová) is a Slavic surname, derived from ''mucha'', meaning " fly".''Dictionary of American Family Names''"Mucha Family History" Oxford University Press, 2013. Retrieved on 4 January 2016. Mucha is the standa ...
, Kupka, Picasso,
Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, , ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of impressionist painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During ...
and
Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...
*Opera performances in National Theatre – unlike drama, all opera performances run with English subtitles. * Anděl, a busy part of the city with modern architecture and a
shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...
*The large
Nusle Bridge Nusle Bridge ( cs, Nuselský most) is a prestressed concrete viaduct in Prague, Czech Republic. It connects Prague 2 and Prague 4, across a valley which forms part of the Nusle district. The bridge is one of the longest in the country and carr ...
, spans the
Nusle Nusle () is a district of Prague. It became part of the city in 1922. Location Part of Nusle is in Prague 2 while most is in Prague 4. Nusle is located south of the city centre in ''Nuselské údolí'' (Nusle Valley) on the Botič brook. It bo ...
Valley, linking New Town to Pankrác, with the Metro running underneath the road *
Strahov Monastery Strahov Monastery ( cs, Strahovský klášter) is a Premonstratensian abbey founded in 1143 by Jindřich Zdík, Bishop John of Prague, and Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia. It is located in Strahov, Prague, Czech Republic. History The founding of ...
, an old Czech premonstratensian abbey founded in 1149 and monastic library *
Hotel International Prague The Hotel International Prague is a four-star hotel located in the Dejvice quarter of Prague, in the Czech Republic. It was completed in 1956 in the socialist realism style, and is a Czech cultural monument. The hotel has retained much of its ...
, a four-star hotel and Czech cultural monument Prague 07-2016 view from Lesser Town Tower of Charles Bridge img3.jpg, The
Charles Bridge Charles Bridge ( cs, Karlův most ) is a medieval stone arch bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the early 15th century.; The ...
is a historic bridge from the 14th century Night view of the Castle and Charles Bridge, Prague - 8034.jpg,
Prague Castle Prague Castle ( cs, Pražský hrad; ) is a castle complex in Prague 1 Municipality within Prague, Czech Republic, built in the 9th century. It is the official office of the President of the Czech Republic. The castle was a seat of power for king ...
is the biggest ancient castle in the world Prague old town square panorama.jpg, Old Town Square featuring
Church of Our Lady before Týn The Church of Mother of God before Týn (in Czech ''Kostel Matky Boží před Týnem'', also ''Týnský chrám'' (''Týn Church'') or just ''Týn''), often translated as Church of Our Lady before Týn, is a Gothic church and a dominant feature ...
and Old Town City Hall with Prague Orloj Iglesia de San Nicolás, Praga.JPG, St. Nicholas Church in Malá Strana is the best example of the Baroque style in Prague Vysehrad as seen over the Vltava from Cisarska louka 732 cropped.jpg,
Vyšehrad Vyšehrad ( Czech for "upper castle") is a historic fort in Prague, Czech Republic, just over 3 km southeast of Prague Castle, on the east bank of the Vltava River. It was probably built in the 10th century. Inside the fort are the Basil ...
fortress contains
Basilica of St Peter and St Paul The Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul is a neo-Gothic church in Vyšehrad fortress in Prague, Czech Republic. Founded in 1070–1080 by the Czech King Vratislav II, the Romanesque basilica suffered a fire in the year 1249 and has been rebuilt in ...
, the
Vyšehrad Cemetery Vyšehrad ( Czech for "upper castle") is a historic fort in Prague, Czech Republic, just over 3 km southeast of Prague Castle, on the east bank of the Vltava River. It was probably built in the 10th century. Inside the fort are the Basil ...
and the oldest Rotunda of St. Martin Praha, Letná, pohled na Pařížskou ulici.JPG, View of Pařížská St. from
Letná Park Letná Park (in Czech ''Letenské sady'') is a large park on Letná hill, built on a plateau above steep embankments along the Vltava River in Prague, Czech Republic. Letná's elevation and location afford commanding views of the Prague Old Tow ...
Náměstí Míru.jpg, Míru Square with
Vinohrady Královské Vinohrady (in English literally "Royal Vineyards" german: Königliche Weinberge) is a cadastral district in Prague. It is so named because the area was once covered in vineyards dating from the 14th century. Vinohrady lies in the muni ...
Theatre and Church of St. Ludmila Národní divadlo ze Střeleckého ostrova.jpg, National Theatre offers opera, drama, ballet and other performances Prazske-vystaviste-holesovice.jpg, Výstaviště compound contains Průmyslový palác, Křižík's Light Fountain and host funfair Lunapark Prague Praha 2014 Holmstad flott gammelnye synagoge old-new synagogue Josefov.jpg,
Old New Synagogue The Old New Synagogue ( cs, Staronová synagoga; german: link=no, Altneu-Synagoge), also called the Altneuschul, situated in Josefov, Prague, is Europe's oldest active synagogue. It is also the oldest surviving medieval synagogue of twin-nave d ...
is Europe's oldest active synagogue. Legend has
Golem A golem ( ; he, , gōlem) is an animated, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is entirely created from inanimate matter (usually clay or mud). The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the l ...
lying in the loft Praha, Vítkov, památník II.JPG,
National Monument on Vítkov National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
Hill, the statue of
Jan Žižka Jan Žižka z Trocnova a Kalicha ( en, John Zizka of Trocnov and the Chalice; 1360 – 11 October 1424) was a Czech general – a contemporary and follower of Jan Hus and a Radical Hussite who led the Taborites. Žižka was a successful milit ...
is the third largest bronze
equestrian statue An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a d ...
in the world Prague Zoo main entrance.JPG,
Prague Zoo Prague Zoological Garden (Czech: ''Zoologická zahrada hl. m. Prahy'') is a zoo in Prague, Czech Republic. It was opened in 1931 with the goal to "advance the study of zoology, protect wildlife, and educate the public" in the district of Troja in ...
, selected in 2015 as the fourth best zoo in the world by TripAdvisor


Tourism statistics


Education

Nine public universities and thirty six private universities are located in the city, including:


Public universities

* Charles University (UK) founded in 1348, the oldest university in Central Europe *
Czech Technical University Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU, cs, České vysoké učení technické v Praze, ČVUT) is one of the largest universities in the Czech Republic with 8 faculties, and is one of the oldest institutes of technology in Central Europe. It ...
(ČVUT) founded in 1707 * University of Chemistry and Technology (VŠCHT) founded in 1920 * University of Economics (VŠE) founded in 1953 *
Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZU; ( cs, Česká zemědělská univerzita v Praze), ČZU; also Czech University of Agriculture in Prague) is a university of agricultural education and research in Prague, the Czech Republic, establish ...
(ČZU) founded in 1906/1952 *
Czech Police Academy Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czec ...
(PA ČR) founded in 1993


Public arts academies

*
Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...
(AVU) founded in 1800 * Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design (VŠUP) founded in 1885 * Academy of Performing Arts (AMU) founded in 1945


Private universities

* (UJAK) founded in 2001 *
Metropolitan University Prague Metropolitan University Prague () is a private university in the Czech Republic founded in 2001 as the University of Public Administration and International Relations. It provides Bachelor, Master and Ph.D. studies as full-time or part-time study ...
(MUP) founded in 2001 * The University of Finance and Administration (VSFS) founded in 1999


Largest private colleges

*
University College of Business in Prague The Private College of Business in Prague (VŠO Praha) is a not-for-profit private university in Prague, Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, ...
(VŠO) founded in 2000 * (VŠEM) founded in 2001 * (VŠPP) founded in 2000 * (VŠH) founded in 1999 *
College of International and Public Relations Prague The College of International and Public Relations Prague (in Czech: Vysoká škola mezinárodních a veřejných vztahů Praha) is a private university in Prague, specializing in bachelor's and master's degrees in international and public relations ...
(VŠMVV) founded in 2001 * CEVRO Institute (CEVRO) founded in 2005 *
Ambis College The College of Banking is a private university located in Prague, Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south ...
(AMBIS) founded in 1994 * (Vysoká škola zdravotnická) founded in 2005 *
Anglo-American University Anglo-American University (AAU) is a private university in Prague, Czech Republic, providing courses in English. Founded in 1990, it was the first private university in the country to use English as the language of instruction. History Anglo ...
(AAVŠ) founded in 2000 *
University of New York in Prague The University of New York in Prague (UNYP) is a private higher education institution in Prague, Czech Republic. It was established in 1998 in cooperation with the State University of New York at New Paltz and Empire State College, both part of ...
(UNYP) founded in 1998


International institutions

*
Instituto Camões The Instituto Camões ( English: ''Camões Institute''), formally, Camões — Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua, I. P. ( English: ''Camões — Institute for Cooperation and Language, Public Institute''), is a Portuguese international instit ...
* Goethe-Institut *
Instituto Cervantes Instituto Cervantes (the Cervantes Institute) is a worldwide nonprofit organization created by the Spanish government in 1991. It is named after Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616), the author of ''Don Quixote'' and perhaps the most important figur ...
*
British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...
*
Alliance Française An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
and
Institut Français The Institut Français (French capitalization, Institut français; "French institute") is a French Établissements publics à caractère industriel et commercial, public industrial and commercial organization (EPIC). Started in 1907 by the Min ...
*
Istituto Italiano di Cultura The Istituto Italiano di Cultura, the Italian Cultural Institute in English, is a worldwide non-profit organization created by the Italian government. It promotes Italian culture and is involved in the teaching of the Italian language. The creati ...
*
Adam Mickiewicz Institute The Adam Mickiewicz Institute ( pl, Instytut Adama Mickiewicza) is a government-sponsored organization funded by Poland's Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and headquartered at ''ulica Mokotowska 25'' (the Sugar Palace) in Warsaw. Nam ...
and
Polish Institute The Polish Institutes is a network of establishments reporting to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Poland. there are 25 of them. Their mission id described as "creating a positive image of Poland abroad" by promoting Polish culture, history, scien ...


Science, research and hi-tech centres

The region city of Prague is an important centre of research. It is the seat of 39 out of 54 institutes of the
Czech Academy of Sciences The Czech Academy of Sciences (abbr. CAS, cs, Akademie věd České republiky, abbr. AV ČR) was established in 1992 by the Czech National Council as the Czech successor of the former Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and its tradition goes back ...
, including the largest ones, the Institute of Physics, the Institute of Microbiology and the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry. It is also a seat of 10 public research institutes, four
business incubator Business incubator is an organization that helps startup companies and individual entrepreneurs to develop their businesses by providing a fullscale range of services starting with management training and office space and ending with venture c ...
s and large hospitals performing research and development activities such as the Motol University Hospital or
Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine (In Czech language, Czech: ''Institut klinické a experimentální medicíny'' – IKEM) is the largest Czech Republic, Czech medical research and clinical hospital located in Prague–Krč. It is di ...
, which was the largest transplant center in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
as of 2019. Universities seated in Prague (see section ''Colleges and Universities'') also represent important centres of science and research activities. , there were 13,000 researchers (out of 30,000 in the country, counted in full-time equivalents), representing a 3% share of Prague's economically active population. Gross expenditure on research and development accounted for €901.3 million (41.5% of country's total). Some well-known multinational companies have established research and development facilities in Prague, among them Siemens,
Honeywell Honeywell International Inc. is an American publicly traded, multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It primarily operates in four areas of business: aerospace, building technologies, performance ma ...
, Oracle,
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...
and
Broadcom Broadcom Inc. is an American designer, developer, manufacturer and global supplier of a wide range of semiconductor and infrastructure software products. Broadcom's product offerings serve the data center, networking, software, broadband, wirel ...
. Prague was selected to host administration of the EU satellite navigation system Galileo. It started to provide its first services in December 2016 and full completion is expected by 2020.


Transport

As of 2017, Prague had transport
modal share A modal share (also called mode split, mode-share, or modal split) is the percentage of travelers using a particular type of transportation or number of trips using said type. In freight transportation, this may be measured in mass. Modal share i ...
: 52% of all trips are done in public transport, 24.5% in car, 22.4% on foot, 0.4% on bike and 0.5% by aeroplane.


Public transportation

The public transport infrastructure consists of the heavily used
Prague Integrated Transport Prague Integrated Transport ( Czech: ''Pražská integrovaná doprava'', ''PID'') run by a city-owned agency called Regional Organiser of Prague Integrated Transport (ROPID), is an integrated public transport system in Prague. Prague Integrat ...
(PID, ''Pražská integrovaná doprava'') system, consisting of the Prague Metro (lines A, B, and C – its length is with 61 stations in total), Prague tram system, Prague buses, commuter trains,
funicular A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite e ...
s, and six
ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...
. Prague has one of the highest rates of public transport usage in the world, with 1.2 billion passenger journeys per year. Prague has about 300 bus lines (numbers 100–960) and 34 regular tram lines (numbers 1–26 and 91–99). There are also three funiculars, one on Petřín Hill, one on Mrázovka Hill and a third at the Zoo in Troja. The Prague tram system now operates various types of trams, including the
Tatra T3 The T3 is a type of Czech tramcar produced by ČKD Tatra. A late-2000s study conducted on the Prague tram system has shown 98.9% reliability, the best of the Prague tram system fleet. During its period of production between 1960 and 199 ...
, newer
Tatra KT8D5 Tatra KT8D5 is a bidirectional light rail vehicle currently ( , and not expected to retire soon) operating in Europe and Asia. In several variations, it was designed and manufactured by Czech engineering corporation ČKD Tatra from 1984 to 1999 ...
,
Škoda 14 T The Škoda 14 T (also called Porsche and Elektra) is a five carbody section uni-directional low-floor tram, developed by Škoda Transportation for the Prague tram system. The vehicle's body was designed by Porsche Design Group. The 14 T has six ...
(designed by Porsche), newer modern
Škoda 15 T Škoda 15T (also known as Škoda ForCity Alfa) is a 100% low-floor multiple-unit tram developed by VUKV a.s. and built by Škoda Transportation in Pilsen for the Prague tram network. It was a successor to the Škoda 14 T, featuring articulated ...
and nostalgic tram lines 23 and 41. Around 400 vehicles are the modernized T3 class, which are typically operated coupled together in pairs. The Prague tram system is the twelfth longest in the world (142 km) and its rolling stock consists of 857 individual cars, which is the third largest in the world behind
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
and
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
. The system carries more than 360 million passengers annually, the highest tram patronage in the world after
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, on a per capita basis, Prague has the second highest tram patronage after
Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...
. All services (metro, tramways, city buses, funiculars and ferries) have a common ticketing system that operates on a
proof-of-payment Proof-of-payment (POP) or proof-of-fare (POF) is an honor-based fare collection system used on many public transportation systems. Instead of checking each passenger as they enter a fare control zone, passengers are required to carry a ticket, p ...
system. Basic transfer tickets can be bought for 30 and 90-minute rides, short-term tourist passes are available for periods of 24 hours or 3 days, and longer-term tickets can be bought on the smart ticketing system
Lítačka Lítačka () is a municipal smart card system in Prague, Czech Republic. Introduced in 2016, the card serves as an electronic ticket for all services of the Prague Integrated Transport system ( metro, trams, buses, funiculars and ferries). It al ...
, for periods of one month, three months or one year. Services are run by the Prague Public Transport Company (Dopravní podnik hl. m. Prahy, a. s.) and several other companies. Since 2005 the ''Regional Organiser of Prague Integrated Transport (ROPID)'' has franchised operation of ferries on the
Vltava Vltava ( , ; german: Moldau ) is the longest river in the Czech Republic, running southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice and Prague, and finally merging with the Labe at ...
river, which are also a part of the public transport system with common fares.
Taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...
services make pick-ups on the streets or operate from regulated taxi stands.


Prague Metro

The
Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urb ...
has three major lines extending throughout the city: A (green), B (yellow) and C (red). A fourth Metro line D is under construction, which will connect the city centre to southern parts of the city (as of 2022, the completion is expected in 2028). The Prague Metro system served 589.2 million passengers in 2012, making it the fifth busiest metro system in Europe and the most-patronised in the world on a per capita basis. The first section of the Prague metro was put into operation in 1974. It was the stretch between stations Kačerov and Florenc on the current line C. The first part of Line A was opened in 1978 ( DejvickáNáměstí Míru), the first part of line B in 1985 ( AndělFlorenc). In April 2015, construction finished to extend the green line A further into the northwest corner of Prague closer to the airport. A new interchange station for the bus in the direction of the airport is the station Nádraží Veleslavín. The final station of the green line is Nemocnice Motol ( Motol Hospital), giving people direct public transportation access to the largest medical facility in the Czech Republic and one of the largest in Europe. A railway connection to the airport is planned. In operation there are two kinds of units: " 81-71M" which is modernized variant of the Soviet Metrovagonmash 81-71 (completely modernized between 1995 and 2003) and new " Metro M1" trains (since 2000), manufactured by consortium consisting of Siemens, ČKD Praha and ADtranz. The minimum interval between two trains is 90 seconds. The original Soviet vehicles " Ečs" were excluded in 1997, but one vehicle is placed in public transport museum in depot Střešovice. The Náměstí Míru metro station is the deepest station and is equipped with the longest
escalator An escalator is a moving staircase which carries people between floors of a building or structure. It consists of a motor-driven chain of individually linked steps on a track which cycle on a pair of tracks which keep the step tread horizo ...
in
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
. The Prague metro is generally considered very safe.


Roads

The main flow of traffic leads through the centre of the city and through inner and outer ring roads (partially in operation). * Inner Ring Road (The City Ring "MO"): Surrounds central Prague. It is the longest city
tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...
in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
with a length of and five interchanges has been completed to relieve congestion in the north-western part of Prague. Called ''
Blanka tunnel complex Blanka Tunnel Complex is a part of the inner Prague Municipal Ring Road. It is the longest road tunnel in the Czech Republic and the longest city tunnel in Europe. The complex connects the area west of Prague Castle with Trója district in the no ...
'' and part of the City Ring Road, it was estimated to eventually cost (after several increases)
CZK The koruna, or crown, ( sign: Kč; code: CZK, cs, koruna česká) has been the currency of the Czech Republic since 1993. The koruna is one of the European Union's 9 currencies, and the Czech Republic is legally bound to adopt the euro curre ...
43 billion. Construction started in 2007 and, after repeated delays, the tunnel officially opened in September 2015. This tunnel complex completes a major part of the inner ring road. * Outer Ring Road (The Prague Ring "D0"): This ring road will connect all major motorways and speedways that meet each other in Prague region and provide faster transit without a necessity to drive through the city. So far , out of a total planned , is in operation. Most recently, the southern part of this road (with a length of more than ) was opened on 22 September 2010. As of 2021, the next section between
Modletice Modletice is a municipality and village in Prague-East District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 500 inhabitants. Geography Modletice is located about southeast of Prague. It lies mostly in a flat landscape in th ...
and
Běchovice Běchovice () is a suburb of Prague, currently a municipal district in the administrative district Prague 21. It is located about 13 km east of the city centre. The main road and railway line connecting Prague and Kolín pass through Běchovic ...
is planned to be completed in 2025.


Rail

The city forms the hub of the Czech railway system, with services to all parts of the country and abroad. The railway system links Prague with major European cities (which can be reached without transfers), including
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
,
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
,
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
,
Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
and
Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...
(Germany);
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
, Graz and
Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital ...
(Austria);
Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
,
Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...
and Cracow (Poland); Bratislava and Košice (Slovakia);
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
(Hungary);
Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...
(Switzerland);
Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...
and Rijeka (Croatia, seasonal); Belgrade (Serbia, seasonal) and
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
(Russia). Travel times range between 2 hours to Dresden and 28 hours to Moscow. Prague's main international railway station is Hlavní nádraží, rail services are also available from other main stations: Masarykovo nádraží,
Holešovice Holešovice () is a district in the north of Prague situated on a meander of the River Vltava, which makes up the main part of the district Prague 7 (an insignificant part belongs to Prague 1). In the past it was a heavily industrial suburb; ...
and
Smíchov Smíchov () is (since 1909) a district of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, and is part of Prague 5. It is on the west bank of the Vltava river. History Between 1945 and 1989, the district contained a monument dedicated to Soviet ta ...
, in addition to suburban stations. Commuter rail services operate under the name Esko Praha, which is part of PID (Prague Integrated Transport).


Air

Prague is served by
Václav Havel Airport Prague Václav Havel Airport Prague ( cs, Letiště Václava Havla Praha), formerly ''Prague Ruzyně International Airport'' ( cs, Mezinárodní letiště Praha-Ruzyně, ) , is the international airport of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. T ...
, the largest airport in the Czech Republic and one of the largest and busiest airports in central and eastern
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
. The airport is the hub of carriers
Smartwings Smartwings, a.s. (formerly ''Travel Service, a.s.'') is a low-cost leisure Czech airline, with its head office on the property of Václav Havel Airport Prague in Ruzyně, 6th district, Prague. It is the biggest airline in the Czech Republic an ...
and
Czech Airlines Czech Airlines j.s.c. (abbreviation: ČSA, cz, České Aerolinie, a.s.) is the flag carrier of the Czech Republic. Its head office is located in the Vokovice area of Prague's 6th district and its hub is Václav Havel Airport Prague. The compa ...
operating throughout Europe. Other airports in Prague include the city's original airport in the north-eastern district of
Kbely Prague 19, also known as Kbely (german: Gbel), is a municipal district () in Prague. It is located in the north-eastern part of the city. It is formed by one cadastre, Kbely. , there were 6,149 inhabitants living in Prague 19. The administrative ...
, which is serviced by the
Czech Air Force "The air is our sea" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = , decorations = , battle_honours = , battle_honours_label = , flying_hours = , websi ...
, also internationally. It also houses the Prague Aviation Museum. The nearby Letňany Airport is mainly used for private aviation and aeroclub aviation. Another
airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...
in the proximity is Aero Vodochody aircraft factory to the north, used for testing purposes, as well as for aeroclub aviation. There are a few aeroclubs around Prague, such as the Točná Airport, Točná airfield.


Cycling

In 2018, 1–2.5 % of people commute by Cycling in Prague, bike in Prague, depending on season. Cycling is very common as a sport or recreation. As of 2019, there were of protected cycle paths and routes. Also, there were of bike lanes and of specially marked bus lanes that are free to be used by cyclists. As of 2021, there are four companies Bicycle-sharing system, providing bicycle sharing in Prague, none of them is subsidized by the city: Rekola (1,000 bikes), Nextbike (1,000 bikes), Bolt (company), Bolt and Lime (transportation company), Lime.


Sport

Prague is the site of many sports events, national stadiums and teams. *AC Sparta Prague, Sparta Prague (Czech First League) – football club *SK Slavia Prague, Slavia Prague (Czech First League) – football club *Bohemians 1905 (Czech First League) – football club *FK Dukla Prague, Dukla Prague (Czech National Football League, Czech 2nd Football League) – football club *FK Viktoria Žižkov, Viktoria Žižkov (Czech National Football League, Czech 2nd Football League) – football club *HC Sparta Praha (Czech Extraliga) – ice hockey club *HC Slavia Praha (1st Czech Republic Hockey League, Czech 2nd Hockey League) – ice hockey club *USK Praha (National Basketball League (Czech Republic), National Basketball League) – basketball club *Prague Lions (European League of Football) –American football *O2 Arena (Prague), O2 Arena – the second largest ice hockey arena in Europe. It hosted 2004 IIHF World Championship, 2004 and 2015 IIHF World Championship, 2015 Ice Hockey World Championship, National Hockey League, NHL 2008 and 2010 Opening Game and Euroleague Final Four *Strahov Stadium – the largest stadium in the world *Prague International Marathon *Prague Open – Tennis Tournament held by the I. Czech Lawn Tennis Club *Sparta Prague Open – Tennis Tournament held in Prague 7 *Josef Odložil Memorial – Athletics meeting *World Ultimate (sport), Ultimate Club Championships 2010 concluded in Strahov Stadium, Strahov and Eden Arena *Mystic SK8 Cup – World Cup of Skateboarding venue takes place at the Štvanice skatepark *Gutovka – sport area with a large concrete skatepark, the highest outdoor climbing wall in Central Europe, four beach volleyball courts and children's playground, Central European Beach Volleyball Championship 2018 took place here.


International relations

The city of Prague maintains its own EU delegation in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
called Prague House. Prague was the location of President of the United States, U.S. President Barack Obama's speech on 5 April 2009, which led to the New START treaty with Russia, signed in Prague on 8 April 2010. The annual conference Forum 2000, which was founded by former Czech President Václav Havel, Japanese philanthropist Yōhei Sasakawa, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel in 1996, is held in Prague. Its main objective is "to identify the key issues facing civilization and to explore ways to prevent the escalation of conflicts that have religion, culture or ethnicity as their primary components", and also intends to promote democracy in non-democratic countries and to support civil society. Conferences have attracted a number of prominent thinkers, Nobel laureates, former and acting politicians, business leaders and other individuals like: F. W. de Klerk, Frederik Willem de Klerk, Bill Clinton, Nicholas Winton, Oscar Arias Sánchez, Dalai Lama, Hans Küng, Shimon Peres and Madeleine Albright.


Twin towns – sister cities

Prague is Sister city, twinned with: *
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
, Germany *
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, Belgium * Chicago, United States * Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany *
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
, Germany * Kyoto, Japan * Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County, United States *
Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
, Germany * Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, United States * Taipei, Taiwan


Namesakes

A number of other settlements are derived or similar to the name of Prague. In many of these cases, Czech emigration has left a number of namesake cities scattered over the globe, with a notable concentration in the New World. Additionally, Kłodzko is sometimes referred to as "Little Prague" (german: Klein-Prag). Although now in Poland, it had been traditionally a part of Bohemia until 1763 when it became part of Silesia.


See also

*Churches in Prague *List of people from Prague *Outline of the Czech Republic *Outline of Prague *List of museums in Prague


Notes


References


Further reading

*Bryant, Chad. ''Prague: Belonging and the Modern City''. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 2021

*Jekova, Alena. ''77 Prague Legends''. Prague: Prah, 2006. *''Prague'' (Eyewitness Travel Guide by DK Publishing) (2009
excerpt and text search 2006 edition
*''Prague (City Guide)'' by Neil Wilson (2009
excerpt and text search
*''Praha – Prague and environs'' (by Čedok) (1926
city guide from 1920s
*''Rick Steves' Prague and The Czech Republic'' by Rick Steves and Honza Vihan (2009
excerpt and text search
*Wilson, Neil. ''Lonely Planet Prague'' (2007
excerpt and text search
*Wilson, Paul. ''Prague: A Traveler's Literary Companion'' (1995)


Culture and society

*Becker, Edwin et al., ed. ''Prague 1900: Poetry and Ecstasy.'' (2000). 224 pp. * *Burton, Richard D. E. ''Prague: A Cultural and Literary History.'' (2003). 268 pp
excerpt and text search
*Cohen, Gary B. ''The Politics of Ethnic Survival: Germans in Prague, 1861–1914.'' (1981). 344 pp. *Fucíková, Eliska, ed. ''Rudolf II and Prague: The Court and the City.'' (1997). 792 pp. *Holz, Keith. ''Modern German Art for Thirties Paris, Prague, and London: Resistance and Acquiescence in a Democratic Public Sphere.'' (2004). 359 pp. *Iggers, Wilma Abeles. ''Women of Prague: Ethnic Diversity and Social Change from the Eighteenth Century to the Present.'' (1995). 381 pp
online edition
*Porizka, Lubomir; Hojda, Zdenek; and Pesek, Jirí. ''The Palaces of Prague.'' (1995). 216 pp. *SayerDerek. ''Prague: Crossroads of Europe''. London Reaktion Books, 2019. . *Sayer, Derek. ''Prague, Capital of the Twentieth Century: A Surrealist History'' (Princeton University Press; 2013) 595 pages; a study of the city as a crossroads for modernity. *Sayer, Derek. "The Language of Nationality and the Nationality of Language: Prague 1780–1920." ''Past & Present'' 1996 (153): 164–210
in Jstor
*Spector, Scott. ''Prague Territories: National Conflict and Cultural Innovation in Kafka's Fin de Siècle.'' (2000). 331 pp
online edition
*Svácha, Rostislav. ''The Architecture of New Prague, 1895–1945.'' (1995). 573 pp. *Wittlich, Peter. ''Prague: Fin de Siècle.'' (1992). 280 pp.


External links

*
Tourist website for Prague
i

site {{Authority control Prague, Prague 880s establishments Capitals in Europe Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Landmarks in the Czech Republic NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union Populated places established in the 9th century Regions of the Czech Republic World Heritage Sites in the Czech Republic