Charles Bridge

Interesting facts

Until 1870 the bridge was simply called the Stone Bridge or the Prague Bridge; it only took Charles IV's name in the 19th century.

It replaced the Judith Bridge, built in 1158–1172 and wrecked by a flood in 1342.

The bridge is about 516 metres long and 9.5 metres wide, carried across the Vltava on 16 arches.

Its 30 statues are Baroque additions, most erected between 1683 and 1714, set on a bridge that is purely Gothic.

The first statue, St John of Nepomuk, went up in 1683 and was cast in bronze in Nuremberg from a model by Matthias Rauchmiller.

Since 1965 the statues have been systematically replaced by copies, with the originals moved to the Lapidarium of the National Museum.

A flood in September 1890 brought down three arches and swept two statues by Ferdinand Brokoff into the river.

In 1648, in the last days of the Thirty Years' War, Swedish troops fighting for the bridge badly damaged one side of the Old Town tower.

A horse-drawn tram crossed the bridge until 1905, followed by electric trams and then buses, before all vehicles were barred after the 1965–1978 repairs.

Why it is worth it

The most-repeated story about Charles Bridge is that its mortar was strengthened with eggs, shipped in from towns and villages across Bohemia on the emperor's order. One town, Velvary, is still ribbed for having sent its eggs hard-boiled — the story goes that villagers, worried about breakage on the cart ride to Prague, cooked them first, and paid for the blunder in centuries of local jokes and a festival that reenacts it to this day. Lab tests have gone back and forth: a chemistry institute once reported egg proteins in samples of the old mortar, while a 2010 re-examination by Charles University found no organic traces at all, concluding the binder was simply a well-made hydraulic lime akin to Roman concrete. The truth is probably less delicious than the legend, though eggs, milk and animal blood really were common medieval mortar additives elsewhere.

Even the start date carries a story: construction is said to have begun at 5:31 a.m. on 9 July 1357, a moment court astrologers reportedly chose because, written out, the numbers form a palindrome — 1-3-5-7-9-7-5-3-1. Whether or not Charles IV's mathematicians really staged the moment, the date has stuck as one of the more charming pieces of medieval numerology attached to any European monument.

The bridge's Old Town tower has a darker chapter. After the failed Bohemian revolt against the Habsburgs was crushed at the Battle of White Mountain, 27 of its leaders were beheaded in Old Town Square in 1621; twelve of their heads were sealed into iron cages and hung from the tower facing the bridge as a warning to anyone crossing. They stayed there for roughly a decade before being taken down quietly at night and buried somewhere that has never been identified.

Getting there

Located in Prague. Václav Havel Airport Prague (PRG) is about 11 km away.

Plan your visit

We have no confirmed visit data yet. Once it is confirmed, this block also carries the date it was checked.

From the encyclopaedia

Charles Bridge 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 bridge replaced the old Judith Bridge built 1158–1172 that had been severely damaged by a flood in 1342. This new bridge was originally called Stone Bridge or Prague Bridge, but has been referred to as "Charles Bridge" since 1870.

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Interesting facts

Why it is worth it

Getting there

Plan your visit

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From the encyclopaedia