· 500 sq. km, 1 200 000 inhabitants
· the capital of the Czech Republic,
the biggest and the oldest city in the CZ
· Prague is divided into many
boroughs (10 parts) – the historical centre is made up by the Old Town,
Josefov, the Lesser Quarter, Hradčany, the New Town and Vyšehrad
· Prague is the seat of our
President, Czech government, all important state ministries and the Czech
Parliament
Prague is
the capital of the Czech Republic. It lies in the heart of Europe on the river
Vltava. It is very beautiful city with many historical buildings and monuments.
It’s sometimes called town with hundred towers because of big amount of towers
(550). Prague is also called Gold Prague. This name is known since 1882 when a
Prague major gave Prague that beautiful name. Many people say that Prague is
very romantic. It‘s because of many medieval constructions – Prague castle,
Charles Bridge... It‘s dream for many people to live there. There is very
famous saying connected with it: „V Praze je blaze, ale draze“.
· a legend connected with the
founding of Prague and Princess Libuše of the Přemyslid dynasty. She
prophesised Prague a great glory, which will touch the stars.
· the oldest settlement of this region
dates back 25 000 years
· the first Slavs came there in the 6th
century
· during the 11th century
Prague became the centre of the economic life, Vyšehrad was the seat of Czech
rulers
· Prague became the imperial
residence of Charles IV in 14th century
An
archbishopric, Charles University, Horse market (Wenceslas square), cattle
market (Charles square) were founded. Charles IV promoted the construction of
St. Vitus cathedral and Charles Bridge...
· in 1419 the defenestration of the
councillors from the windows of the New Town Hall took place
· in 1420 Jan Žižka defeated the
first anti-Hussite crusade on Vítkov Hill
· in 1618 the Czech estates rose up
against the Hapsburgs – these events also marked the beginning of the
Thirty-Year’s War throughout Europe
· in 1918 Prague became the capital
of Czechoslovakia
· in 1939 Prague was occupied by
German Troops and in 1942 strongly persecuted after assassination of protector
Heidrich
· in May 1945 the Prague uprising
against fascists culminated
· on 9th May 1945 Prague
was liberated by Russians
· on August 21st 1968
Prague was occupied by the Warsaw Pact Troops (as well as the rest of our
republic) in order to stop democratic reform in the country
· after 40 years of totalitarian
depression, on November 17th 1989, the Velvet Revolution took place
there. Huge demonstrations started on Národní Street.
· The
Prague Castle -
a residence of the Czech dukes since 9th century, founded by the
first Přemyslid Prince Bořivoj, during the reign of Rudolf II the Castle became
a famous centre of arts and culture
- the St. Vitus Cathedral –
construction started in 1344, decorated by the famous European artists, coronation jewels are saved there
- the Royal Palace – Vladislav
Hall, Spanish Hall, Golden Lane (a legend connected with alchemists)
· The
Vyšehrad Castle - joined with old Czech legends, situated on the bank of
the River Vltava, 11th century
- Vyšehrad Cemetery - with the graves
of famous personalities in the sphere of culture, science and politics
- The Church of Saints Peter and Paul
– originally Romanesque, now Neo-gothic
· The
Charles Bridge - commissioned by Charles IV, - built by a famous Gothic
architect Petr Parléř
- the second oldest bridge in Central
Europe, 520m long, 10m wide
- there are Gothic Bridge Towers on
both ends of the bridge
- in the 18th century the
bridge began to be decorate by baroque statues by Matyáš Braun and Jan Brokoff.
- now it’s lively centre of Prague, always full of tourists and stalls
· St. George’s Basilica
· Summer House with it’s Singing
Fountain
· some parts of Prague castle –
Wallenstein Palace and it’s garden with a beautiful sala terena and with an
avenue of statues (all sculptures were taken away by Swedish Army in 1648)
· the
National Theatre - built in the late Renaissance style from the public
money collection
- it was
damaged by fire in 1881and was rebuilt within the next two years
- the
best artist of the 19th century decorated the theatre (M. Aleš, F. Ženýšek,
V. Hynais)
· St. Nicolas Church
· Loretta
· Statues on Charles Bridge
· Old Town
Square – the Astronomical Clock, which strikes every 60 minutes is
controlled by a very complicated mechanism built in the Middle Ages. In the
upper part of the horologe a procession of the Apostles can be seen every hour.
The horologe is decorated by 12 outer medallions representing the course of
village life, painted by famous Czech painter Josef Mánes. There are also 12
signs of the Zodiac.
- St. Nicholas Church – designed
by K. I. Dienzenhofer
· Wenceslas
Square - centre of the city
- the statue
of the Czech patron – St. Wenceslas – stand there, made by J. V. Myslbek – it’s
symbol of free and independent republic.
· The
Carolinum – the oldest building of Charles University, founded in 1348
as first institution of this king in central Europe
· The Clementinum - the second largest building
in Prague (after the Prague Castle),
built in 17th century
- now it serves as state library
· the
National Museum – Czech biggest and oldest museum; zoological,
archaeological, historical, … expositions, at the top of Wencellas Square
· the
National Gallery – collection of old world art (German, Italian, Dutch,
Czech, … paintings)
· The Powder
Gate – built in 1475, one of the thirteen gates of the old fortification
system, 65m high
· The observation tower on Petřín
hill – 60m high, built in 1891 after the model of the Eiffel Tower in Paris,
today it also serves as a television transmitter tower
Museums,
galleries
Many
theatres (Smetana Th. Lucerna Hall, Tyl Th. Vinohrady Th. The Semafor, Div.
Husa na Provázku, Div. na Zábradlí, Pyramida, Spirála)
For young:
Roxy, Rock café, Bunkr, Malostranská baseda...
A lot of
concerts take place there
Seat of 3
main TV channels in CZ
A lot of
Sport events: football, ice hockey, basketball
The biggest
problem is pollution, they try to cut down the big amount of cars in the
centre, they want to divert the transport to the surroundings parts
I thing
that the public transport is very good, you can get everywhere, you don’t have
to wait for so long, it takes you a lot to get from one to another part of the
city sometimes. A lot of busses, trams, underground have three lanes. No
trolley-busses
Lack of
parking places. In winter the air is usually very bad.
Ruzyně
Airport. It was rebuilt few years ago, it’s quite big but not as big as
Frankfurt for example, it’s very modern. You can get everywhere. It can be
compared with modern airports in West Europe
Water
transport – I thing it is just a tourist attraction, not very important for
industry
Modern,
machinery, chemical, food, textile
Big share
of tertiary sphere – tourists – it‘s a job for many people
Princess
Libuše, Karel IV, Rudolf II
Mozart – He
composed the opera Don Giovany for Prague and said the sentence: „My residences
of Prague understand me.“
Václav Thám
The main person of the theatre Bouda from the time of National Regeneration
Many
outstanding people like the Pope Jan Pavel II, Prince Charles...
Famous
musicians: Michael Jackson, Phil Collins, Robert Miles...
Pop Groups:
The Kelly Family, Offspring, Green Day, Metallica, U2, Queen...
Film stars:
Schwarzneger, Hasselhof...
I live in a small town
called Hlučín. It is quite silent and sleepy town between two bigger cities
Ostrava and Opava. Sometimes, in regard of its position, it isn’t that silent
town in the middle of countryside as I said. Hundreds of cars drive through the
town every day during the rush hour. A lot of small villages like Bobrovníky,
Darkovičky, Darkovice, Malánky, Kozmice etc. consider to Hlučín. That’s why
Hlučín has got about 15 thousand inhabitants. If you want to travel to Poland
it will take you only a half-hour to get to the border. Many people take
advantage of that and very often drive there for petrol or to buy some clothes
or food. Because of many big factories in Ostrava and in Poland there isn’t
much clean air there. Sometimes in winter you can smell the vicious air from
Vítkovice or Nová Huť but it couldn’t be as horrible as it seems because we are
still fit and alive.
The name Hlučín probably
came from a word ”hlučí” which stands for one sort of plant - hawthorn. Another
tale says that the name came from the first name of one man called “Hulka”. An
old legend says that there had been built a small village earlier then Hlučín.
This village was called Dlouhá Ves (Longo Pago) and it was situated next to the
castle Landek. Hlučín grew up close to Longo Pago with Landek in the middle a
few years later. It was established by Přemysl Otakar II about the year 1303.
Hlučín was a town from the beginning. It couldn’t develop from a village
because streets in the centre are planned and there also couldn’t be two
villages side by side. Longo Pago had been independent for a long time and in
1911 had been finally added to Hlučín. This region belonged to The Lands of
Czech Crown until 1742. Then it belonged for 150 years to Prussia. From the
year 1919 till today belongs Hlučín and its environs to Czech Republic. There
are of course a few interesting historical places in Hlučín. For example the
oldest church in this region. The first mention of the church is from 1378 but
it was probably built a few years earlier by one prince of Opava. The rest of
the ramparts are also very interesting. Their construction had been ended in
1534 and it had only two gates. The first gate (Opavská) was in the west and
the second gate (Ostravská) was in the east. The secondary school in Hlučín is
also very famous. Today it is 78 years old and there had studied over 3300
students including famous men like Josef Kainar there.
Hlučín lies on the left
side of the river Opava. Next to the river is the lake Štěrkovna that is used
in summer as well as in winter. In summer it is a great place for water sports.
You can hire the boat, treadle or water-scooter. You can do water-skiing or
bungee jumping. Every year there is a championship in driving motorboats there.
In winter it is a suitable place for skating and playing ice hockey. By the
river you can do canoeing. In the centre of Hlučín there are tennis courts,
football stadium and volleyball courts. Next to the stadium there is hall with
sauna and fitness centre. There are plenty of small villages round Hlučín and
it is interesting to visit them on a bike. As for culture there is a cinema and
a rebuilt palace of culture there.
I have never thought how
my hometown is divided. It could be divided into three parts. The first part is
the centre including small square, town hall, small gallery, library,
supermarket, covered market and plenty of other shops. The neighbourhood OKD
could be the second part. In the past it was home for many people working bituminous
coal mines in Ostrava. It has got its own small centre with supermarket, pub,
primary school and of course shops. OKD is surrounded with lots of small
gardens that usually consist of a few square meters of land, small hothouse and
small hut. The majority of people living in OKD spend there whole their free
time. The third part of the town creates Rovniny. Rovniny is a modern quarter
with very well furnished primary school and supermarket.
Hlučín isn’t a big
industrial centre. The most of people work in Ostrava so they have to travel 11
kilometres to work and back every day. But there are some small institutions in
Hlučín too. People work in the saw-mill, silo, printing station or bakery but
the majority of people working in Hlučín work in services: shops, supermarkets,
banks, car-services etc. There is one more big attraction here. You probably
know the system of big shops specialised on garden apparatuses called
Mountfield. I thing there are only 14 shops in our republic and one of them is in
Hlučín.
What I like and dislike in
my town? I like that it isn’t as big as Ostrava or Brno and as small as for
example Darkovičky. It is something between village and city. It isn’t as boring as a village and as noisy and dirty as a city. I
thing there should be more services here. If there is for instance only one
sport-shop in town there is no competition there. There should be also more
parks and trees in the centre. All the round the town there are some woods but
in the town there are only two or three parks and that’s all. Cleaning services
should be also more active. All in all Hlučín is a nice town. People are used
to life here and they probably don’t want to change it. You don’t believe? So
don’t wait and visit it. If you really want to see the positives of Hlučín you
will definitely see them but if you want to see the negatives of that town you
will probably see them too…