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The Astronomical Clock
The Astronomical Clock of Prague was built in 1410, and so has kept time for 6 centuries. It was built mainly to show the movement of heavenly bodies within the Solar System.
It shows a medieval view of the Solar System, consistent with what people believed at the time the Astronomical Clock was built. The clock shows three pieces of information; it shows the revolutions of the sun, the revolutions of the moon, and the revolutions of the stars. The earth is at the centre of the universe
The Astronomical Clock is divided into red and blue halves representing day and night.
At the top of the Astronomical Clock, Death appears every hour to ring the bells and allow the hour glass of life run empty. Each of the 12 Apostles walk past in two open windows. A rooster crows just before the clock strikes the hour.
Nove Mesto
This is Prague's main commercial and business district. It is based around Wenceslas Square at the top of which is the National Museum and the two main commercial streets - Na Prikope and Narodni. Running from these streets are many smaller streets and courtyards - some of which are being transformed into modern shopping malls - and hotels, bars and restaurants abound.
Walking along Legerova or Ke Karlovu (where you will find the Dvorak Museum) will bring you to the Police Museum from where you could take a walk along the top of the Botic Valley towards the river.
Vysehrad and the Eastern Suburbs
Centred upon the ancient rocky fortress of Vysehrad (the Republic's most revered landmark) and containing the Vysehrad Cemetery, a Romanesque rotunda and the Gothic church of St Peter and Paul, this area stretches to the working class suburbs of Zizkov. It is home to the TV Tower (from which you can enjoy panoramic views of Prague) and the ancient Zizkov Hill atop which stands a statue of Jan Zizka (a fifteenth-century army general) and the mausoleum in which the remains of the three Communist presidents of the Republic and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier can be found. The suburb of Vinohrady contains Prague's most modern church - the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord - which was built in 1928.
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