The capital of the Czech Republic is one of the oldest city destinations in all of Europe. As early as the Middle Ages, traders and pilgrims praised the shimmering sandstone towers of "Golden Prague." Nowadays up to 30,000 people tread the well-known tourist paths through Staré Město, the Old Town.
Prague's history as a European trading settlement began with the fortification of the castle hill, Hradčany, in the year 916. What followed was the building of churches, monasteries, palaces and the famous Charles Bridge, with its saints' statues. It links the castle with the Old Town on the other bank of the Vltava. The Old Town Hall tower is considered a medieval highlight because of its astronomical clock. Every hour, on the hour, everyone on the square looks up when the clockwork figures of the twelve apostles appear.
Prague isn't known only as the "Golden City," but also as "Little Jerusalem." The Josefov, or Jewish quarter, is one of the oldest centers of Jewish culture in all Europe: with six synagogues, the Jewish Town Hall, on one of whose two clocks Hebrew numerals run counterclockwise, and the Old Jewish Cemetery, with its tightly packed gravestones.
