STREETSCAPE

Prague, Czechia

The streets of Prague are mostly narrow from pre-automobile days, with cobblestone paving everywhere. Restaurants and shops line the sidewalks, with residential above. The Church of St Nicholas, featured in this vista, is located on Prague’s Old Town Square. The imposing Baroque place of worship was consecrated in 1737, during the period of the restoration of Catholicism in the Czech region after the Thirty Years’ War. During the Prague uprising in 1945, the church was used by the Czech partisans as a concealed site for Radio Prague, as the main radio building was under attack by the Waffen-SS. St Nicholas Church is one of the most beautiful churches in the Old Town, by architect Killian Dientzenhofer ,the same architect who designed the magnificent Kinsky Palace. This church can also be seen at the left end of The Castle sketch, preceding. It is a classic example of Baroque style architecture, with an equally stunning interior. Like my other streetscape sketches (San Juan, Chinatown), the strong perspective draws your eye to the end of the street, where the presence of a major building makes for visual drama.

While walking Prague, I was struck by the homogeneity of the people I encountered, almost all eastern European. ChatGTP advises this is because the city is relatively isolated geographically. This notion was confused when I got to the main courtyard of The Castle, where the crowds were all tourists, prominently Japanese, snapping shots of the impressive grounds.