Throughout its long history, the bridge has witnessed many triumphs and falls, magnificent celebrations and cruel executions, several times it became a battlefield, but it always remained a reliable support for the townspeople, no matter what passions were raging around.
Of course, such a bright history could not pass without leaving a trace, so the Charles Bridge is literally covered with numerous legends.
The bridge connects two of the most important areas of old Prague - Stare mesto and Mala Strana. In the 12th century, there was an old Juditin Bridge in its place, named after the beautiful Queen Judita of Thuringia, wife of Vladislav II. However, a couple of centuries later this bridge was destroyed by a flood and only one, miraculously survived tower from the Lesser Town side keeps its memory.
A new bridge across the Vltava was laid in 1357 by order of Emperor Charles IV. In the name of this monarch he was later named.
The first legends
The bridge was built for a rather long time, more than half a century, and was completed only at the very beginning of the 15th century. It was erected by a famous architect, Peter Parler, who was also involved in the construction of the capital's Cathedral of St. Witt.
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To make the structure more resistant to the whims of the often spilling Vltava, the white of chicken eggs was mixed into the concrete solution. This trick became the key to the high strength of the bridge, which has been successfully withstanding all floods for several centuries and does not need major repairs.
Charles Bridge is a majestic structure, 10 meters wide and 16 spans long. Such a grandiose construction at that time could not leave the townspeople indifferent, therefore, mystical legends began to form about the construction of the bridge.
Happy date
Legends say that the date of laying the first stone was chosen by Emperor Charles with the active participation of astrologers. It is known that this significant event took place in 1357, June 9, exactly at 5.31 in the morning. This date is read in the same way both from left to right and from right to left: 135797531, and therefore has a special energy. In addition, it was at this time that a small parade of planets happened - the Sun, Earth and Saturn lined up in one line.
According to astrologers, such a favorable combination of astrological "circumstances" should have brought good luck and prosperity to the future structure. And it cannot be said that the wise men were wrong.
Sneezing baby
A rather dark legend tells of an ill-fated builder who was tasked with creating one of the bridge spans. The master still could not make an accurate calculation, and then one day, when he was once again poring over the drawings, the devil appeared to him. The Unclean One promised his help in return for the soul of the first one to pass the new flight after its opening. The builder agreed, but he himself decided to be the first to let the black rooster across the bridge, because the question that the soul should be human was not even mentioned.
However, the devil was also not so simple, and at the end of the work, he lured the master's pregnant wife to the bridge, who decided to be the first to congratulate her husband. The next day the woman died, the child also did not survive …
Since then, passers-by have more than once heard children's sneezing over the Vltava. They said that this ghost of the unborn baby was freezing on the bridge, and no one could help him.
Fortunately, this time people were wrong. Once, one very hurrying somewhere, hearing a sneeze, automatically wished the invisible man to be healthy. Surprisingly, the ghost immediately calmed down and never bothered anyone else.
Bridge Tower Legends
The Old Town Bridge Tower is recognized as one of the most beautiful Gothic buildings in all of Europe. They began to build it simultaneously with the bridge, and the rich decor was due to the fact that the tower, in addition to its protective function, served as a kind of front gate through which ambassadors of other states entered the Prague Castle.
But the tower did not always play the role of an impromptu triumphal arch. More than once she became the object of intimidation. So, after the suppression of one of the Prague popular uprisings, the heads of 12 of its instigators, for a whole decade, hung in iron nets, on the upper gallery of the tower. According to legend, their souls still dwell here, and at night you can even hear their quiet whispers.
In memory of these unfortunates, 12 white crosses were inscribed right on the pavement of the Old Town Square, which can be seen today.
The tower is open to the public, and the view from the 47-meter observation deck certainly deserves the attention of every visitor to the Czech capital. And if you visit this observation deck on June 22, then the setting sun, with its last ray, will accurately indicate the place where St. Vitus, a Christian martyr and one of the patrons of Prague, is buried.
There is another interesting belief. On the eastern wall of the Old Town Tower, among the numerous coats of arms and statues, there are five images of kingfishers. The inhabitants of Prague are sure that only a person with a pure and bright soul can find them. Many tourists accept the challenge with enthusiasm, but most of them manage to find only four birds, the fifth one is found only by a few …
Legendary statues
Initially, Charles Bridge was devoid of any decorations. 30 graceful statues and sculptural groups that tourists admire now appeared much later, in the 18th century. The material for all the sculptures was soft sandstone, so over time, under the influence of rains and winds, they lost their freshness and beauty. Now on the bridge there are copies of them, created from materials that are more weather-resistant, while the originals are kept in the National Museum in Prague.
Statue of Jan Nepomuk
The most legendary statue of the Charles Bridge is the statue of St. John of Nepomuk.
This saint - the patron saint of Prague is very much loved and revered by the townspeople. His appearance here is no coincidence. After all, it was from here, from the bridge, that the holy martyr was thrown into the river. The reason for such a terrible execution was the anger of King Wenceslas IV that Jan, who was the queen's confessor at that time, greatly respected the secret of confession and refused to confirm the monarch's suspicions of betraying his wife.
Today, on the very spot where the saint was executed, there is a small marble tablet with a cross surrounded by five stars.
The statue of Jan Nepomuk is deafening popularity among the guests of Prague. Thousands of people come to her every day, because, according to legends, the statue of the saint has the ability to fulfill desires. To do this, it is enough, standing in front of the statue, to tell Jan about your dream, and then alternately touch the reliefs on the right and left sides of the pedestal.
Bearded man
The only truly ancient sculptural image that is present on the bridge today is a bas-relief, popularly called the Borodach. Presumably, it depicts one of the ancient builders and previously occupied a place above the third span of the Juditin bridge.
During the construction of a new crossing, it was decided to move the surviving statue closer to the shore by a miracle and decorated the masonry of the embankment with it. And so that Bearded Man would not get bored in a new place, he was assigned an important mission - to monitor the water level in the river. The bas-relief was deliberately set quite low, and now every resident of Prague knows - if the Beard's beard is wet - they should prepare for a flood.
Scum at Charles Bridge
Despite the abundance of statues of saints, the Charles Bridge has its own evil spirits, which, by the way, feel great and are not ashamed of anyone. So, in rainy weather on the railing of the bridge, you can see a small nimble imp. His favorite pastime is to paint his own self-portraits, and then pester passers-by, hoping to profitably sell his art.
And under the fourth aisle there lives a real water one, whose name is Pan Josef. He is considered the most important aquatic in the Czech Republic and is highly respected not only by his subordinates, but also by the townspeople. In the old days, Mr. Joseph loved to go out to people, chat and smoke a pipe with them. It is said that several centuries ago he even owned a small boat station. However, in the modern world, mythological characters have a hard time, therefore, Mr. Joseph prefers not to appear once again, but continues to do his main business - to collect the souls of all drowned in clay pots. And so that the potter does not experience a shortage of "containers", local potters still bring and leave their products under the bridge. After all, you never know when another misfortune will happen and a new soul will fall into the possession of Pan Josef.
The keeper
The Charles Bridge also has its own Guardian - the knight Bruncvik - a character as popular in the Czech Republic as Odysseus in Greece or Ivan Tsarevich in Russia.
The majestic statue of Bruncvik on a high pedestal is installed next to the bridge, on the very bank of the Vltava, from the side of Mala Strana. The stone knight holds a Magic Sword in his hands, capable of chopping off the heads of enemies without even touching them. However, according to legends, the real sword of Brunzwik is immured somewhere in the masonry of the Charles Bridge and it is to this relic, and not at all to egg whites in cement, that the bridge owes its centuries-old strength.
The inhabitants of Prague believe that if the city is in real danger, Brunzvik will come to life again, descend from the high pedestal, swing his wonderful sword and instantly defeat all enemies. True, in its history Prague has experienced many enemy invasions, but Brunzvik never came to the aid of the townspeople. Apparently, the enemy was not so strong and the knight thought that the people would cope on their own.
And even in 2002, when a catastrophic flood happened in the Czech capital, and the water almost completely covered the Charles Bridge, the statue of Brunzvik continued to proudly rise above the raging waves. He did not leave his post, and adequately withstood the pressure of the elements, which, by the way, did not cause much damage to the bridge.