Prague

At the far corner, where the quay Is crossed by Narodni trida (National Street), which debouches onto May Day Bridge, is the National Theatre (Narodni divadlo) in Prague, the finest work of Czech 19th century architecture. The Theatre had an inauspicious start: its cost was met by public subscription, but on August 12 1881, scarcely had it been completed, before it burnt down; new public collections enabled It to be reopened in 1883. It was festively opened twice, and both times with a performance of Smetana's Libuše. The foremost artists of the day shared in the building and decoration of this symbol of a Czech national culture: Architect Josef Zitek, who also designed the House of Artists, the sculptor J. V. Myslbek, the painter Mikulaš Aleš and many others. Aleš's cycle of lunettes, Vlast (Homeland), in the theatre foyer, is a notable work as are also the Curtain, a eulogy in paint on the self-sacrificing spirit of the Czech nation in building the theatre, by Vojtech Hynais, 8 ceiling frescos of allegorical subjects by F. Zenišek and allegorical representations of the different theatre genres In lunettes, by Adolf Liebscher; on the attic of the loggia are statues of Apollo and the Muses, by B. Schnirch, teams of horses driven by the Goddesses of Victory on the pylons of the main facade and the portal on the Gottwald Quay, with statues of Opera and Drama, are by I. Myslbek. In the basement of the National Theatre are the foundation stones brought from historical places throughout the Republic; in 1963 the Foundation Patent, splendidly illuminated by Josef Manes, was discovered, unfortunately in very poor condition, so that it will require much patient reconstruction. The National Theatre is to this day the foremost Czecho-slovak stage, although it is now only one of the 25 theatres the city can boast. We may now continue along National Street which, especially where it approaches the centre, is one of the busiest shopping streets in Prague. It arose, in the same way as Na prikope, by the filling up of the ditch surrounding the city fortifications. Obliquely opposite the National Theatre is the massive building of the Czech Academy of Sciences, with interior sculptural decoration by Myslbek. We pass the Baroque Church of St Ursula at the corner of Voršilska ulice (Ursula Street), of 1704. In front of its portal is a statue of St John Nepomuk, by Ignac Platzer. This section of Narodni trida reaching to ulice 28. rijna (Street of the 28th October), at the corner of which is the department store 'Perla', contains no other buildings of note, but look to see if by chance there is not an interesting exhibition on at the House of Czechoslovak Writers. Another exhibition room is in the Danube Palace, on the right-hand side, and further on is the House of Arts and Crafts, on the same side of the street; in the shop, Krasna jizba, you may perhaps choose some souvenirs or gifts to take home, the work of folk artists, or modern Czech articles for home decoration. Opposite is the shop selling glass and china (No 43) and Just beside it, at the corner of Perlova, is a Tuzex sales point with objects d'art and antiques.

In the Second Courtyard was formerly a socalled Mathematical Tower, remains of which are still discernible in the masonry; its flat roof served Rudolph's astronomers and astrologists as an observatory. In the right-hand corner, as seen from the Matthias Gateway, stands the Castle Chapel of the Holy Rood, built by A. Luragho in 1753 and later restyled in Neo-Baroque (1852-58). Since 1961 a major part of St Vitus's Treasury has been deposited here, especially its artistically more valuable items. The rest, such as the relics of saints arrd objects without artistic value, are retained at the Cathedral. The St Vitus Treasury is the richest and artistically most valuable in Central Europe. Despite various fosse; suffered in the past, it still comprises an admirable collection of liturgical vessels, ecclesiastical and secular jewels and a collection of curiosities assembled by Charles IV, whose taste in such matters was anything but eclectic. In part in the Chapel and in part in the Cathedral are relics of the Bohemian patron saints: the skulls of St Wenceslas and St Adalbert, the St Wenceslas helm and chainmail shirt supposedly worn by the saint, the sword of St Stephen and the mitre of St Adalbert. There are also replicas of the royal Insignia of the Bohemian Kings from the grave of Rudolph Habsburg, the golden Zavig Cross, with Byzantine enamelwork of the 13th century, an ivory statuette of Our Lady, of French provenance, a Gothic copy of the Roman Madonna Arcacoeli and a Gothic bust of St Ludmilla in silver (all 14th cent.), a Gothic gold coronation cross, inset with antique cameos, a Baroque gilded cross of silver of 1711, containing a Gothic Patriarchal Cross, with relics of Christ's Cross, a Romanesque reliquary of the 12th century, a Gothic jug of natural crystal, with a textile material allegedly from the time of Christ, an onyx goblet from the middle of the 14th century, numerous monstrances, chalices and reliquaries of various shapes, artistically executed. And then a quantity of relics of dubious authenticity, besides curiosities of all kinds, including those from the domain of zoology. Charles IV had a passion for collecting relics and did not hesitate to demand them as gifts wherever he came across them. A number of secular and clerical forgers turned out a wide variety of relics in order to gain his favour. From every journey abroad the Emperor brought additions to his collections, his ambition being to have the largest and best In the whole world. His letter of 1354 is preserved In which he wrote to Archbishop ArnoIt of Pardubice: 'I think you will not find a city in Europe — with the exception of Rome — where the pilgrim will find more relics than in the metropolitan cathedral of St Vitus. A carriage-way and footway lead Into the Third Courtyard, which Is the largest and oldest, being the actual core of the whole Castle complex. In the carriage-way remains are visible of the Romanesque ramparts of the 11th-12th centuries. We come out opposite the entrance to the Cathedral of St Vitus (chrim sv. Vita), the largest ecclesiastical building in Prague. The part of the church beyond the crossing, along with the tall bell tower, is original Gothic of the 14th and 15th centuries. The rest of the edifice, including facade and towers, was added in the style of the original building at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. The building thus took six whole centuries to complete, and today continues to be supplemented by sculptural and other artistic decoration (wroughtiron door, stained-glass windows, etc.). It is reckoned that more than two hundred statues will yet be commissioned for the exterior decoration.