The story of Charles Bridge

Legend says Charles IV laid the first stone of this bridge himself at 5:31 in the morning on 9 July 1357, a moment chosen because written out it forms a numerical palindrome, 1357 9 7 5 31, meant to give the bridge extra strength. It replaced the Judith Bridge, badly damaged by a flood in 1342, and was completed in 1402. Until 1841 it was the only way across the Vltava, linking the castle with the Old Town, and it lies on the coronation route of the Bohemian kings.

The bridge is 516 metres long, nearly 10 metres wide, with 16 arches, guarded by towers at both ends. Its alley of 30 statues, most of them Baroque and first set up around 1700, is now made of replicas.

The bridge has seen dark days: in 1621 the severed heads of 27 executed rebel leaders were displayed on the Old Town Bridge Tower, and in 1648 Swedish troops fought on the bridge itself. It has been called Charles Bridge only since 1870.