Charles Bridge - 1
by Hany J
Title
Charles Bridge - 1
Artist
Hany J
Medium
Photograph - Original Photo
Description
Charles Bridge is a historic stone gothic bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic and connects the Old Town and Lesser Town (Malá Strana). Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, and finished in the beginning of the 15th century. This bridge replaced an older bridge (the Judith Bridge) that was built between 1158 and 1172 and was badly damaged by a flood in 1342. This new bridge was originally called Stone Bridge or Prague Bridge but has been known as Charles Bridge since 1870.
Charles Bridge was the only means of crossing the river Vltava and the most important connection between Prague Castle and the city's Old Town and adjacent areas. This "solid-land" connection made Prague important as a trade route between Eastern and Western Europe.
The bridge is 621 metres (2,037 ft) long and nearly 10 metres (33 ft) wide, following the example of the Stone Bridge in Regensburg. It was built as a bow bridge with 16 arches shielded by ice guards. It is protected by three bridge towers, two on the Lesser Quarter side of the city (including the Malá Strana Bridge Tower) and one on the Old Town side (which is the Old Town Bridge Tower, considered to be one of the most beautiful Gothic-style buildings in the entire world, and the one seen on the extreme left-hand side of the frame). The bridge is decorated by a continuous alley of 30 statues and statuaries, most of them baroque-style, originally erected around 1700 but now all replaced by replicas.
There are about 30 statues and statuaries with a mostly baroque style on this gothic bridge. Most sculptures were done by prominent Bohemian sculptors of the time and erected between 1683 and 1714. They depict various saints and patron saints venerated at that time.
Some of the most notable sculptures include the statuaries of St. Luthgard, the Holy Crucifix and Calvary, and John of Nepomuk. Beginning in 1965 and over the next few years, all of the statues have been systematically replaced by replicas, and the originals have been exhibited in the Lapidarium of the National Museum.
All images are taken with a Canon 5D III (full frame) and a Canon 7D II (crop frame) using a variety of Canon L-Series lenses, and Tamron and Sigma pro-line lenses; processed in RAW with ACR, PSC, Photomatix, and a variety of other imaging software.
All images are Copyright © 2019 Hany G. Jadaa; C. Chem. M.Sc. Eng.; and Copyright © 2019 Prince John Photography (the Artist). The material contained herein may not be reproduced, copied, edited, published, transmitted or downloaded in any way, shape or form. All rights are reserved. Copying, altering, displaying or redistribution of any of these images without written permission from the Artist is strictly prohibited and will be prosecuted under US, Canadian, European, and Australian Copyright laws.
Image is available for purchase at higher resolution and no copyright stamps upon request. Please contact the artist directly at pjphotography@uniserve.com
Uploaded
May 7th, 2019
Embed
Share