Charles Bridge

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Charles Bridge
Charles Bridge in April 2007
Coordinates	50°05′11″N 14°24′43″E / 50.08639°N 14.41194°E / 50.08639; 14.41194
Carries	Pedestrian only
Crosses	Vltava River
Locale	Prague
Official name	Karlův most
Other name(s)	Stone Bridge (Kamenný most), Prague Bridge (Pražský most)
Characteristics
Design	Stone
Material	Bohemian sandstone
Total length	515.8 metres (1,692 ft)[1]
Width	9.5 metres (31 ft)[1]
Longest span	13.4 metres (44 ft)[1]
No. of spans	16
Clearance below	13 metres (43 ft)[1]
History
Designer	Peter Parler
Construction start	1357[1]
Construction end	1402 (45 years)[1]
Location

Charles Bridge (

As the only means of crossing the river Vltava until 1841, Charles Bridge was the most important connection between

Old Town

and adjacent areas. This land connection made Prague important as a trade route between Eastern and Western Europe.

The bridge is 516 metres (1,693 ft) long and nearly 10 metres (33 ft) wide. Following the example of the

-style, originally erected around 1700, but now all have been replaced by replicas.

The bridge is currently undergoing a twenty-year process of structural inspections, restoration, and repairs. The process started in late 2019, and is expected to cost 45–60 million

History

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14th to 19th centuries

1848 revolution

Throughout its history, Charles Bridge has suffered several disasters and witnessed many historic events. Czech legend has it that construction began on Charles Bridge at 5:31am on 9 July 1357 with the first stone being laid by Charles IV himself. This exact time was very important to the Holy Roman Emperor because he was a strong believer in numerology and felt that this specific time, which formed a

occupied the west bank of the Vltava, and as they tried to advance into the Old Town the heaviest fighting took place right on the bridge. During the fighting, they severely damaged one side of the Old Town bridge tower (the side facing the river) and the remnants of almost all gothic decorations had to be removed from it afterward. During the late 17th century and early 18th century the bridge gained its typical appearance when an alley of baroque statues was installed on the pillars. During a great flood in 1784, five pillars were severely damaged and, although the arches did not break down, the traffic on the bridge had to be greatly restricted for some time.

The original stairway to

The bridge towers underwent a thorough reconstruction between 1874 and 1883.

On 2–5 September 1890, another disastrous flood struck Prague and severely damaged Charles Bridge. Thousands of rafts, logs and other floating materials that escaped from places upstream gradually formed a huge barrier leaning against the bridge. Three arches were torn down by the great pressure and two pillars collapsed from being undermined by the water, while others were partly damaged. With the fifth pillar, two statues –

.

20th century to present

Petřínská rozhledna

– lookout tower

In the beginning of the 20th century, Charles Bridge saw a steep rise of heavy traffic. The last day of the horse line on the bridge was 15 May 1905, when it was replaced with an electric tram and later, in 1908, with buses. At the end of World War II, a barricade was built in the Old Town bridge tower gateway. A capital repair of the bridge took place between 1965 and 1978, based on a collaboration among various scientific and cultural institutes. The stability of the pillars was reassured, all broken stone blocks were replaced, and the asphalt top was removed. All vehicular traffic has been excluded from Charles Bridge since then, making it accessible by pedestrians only. The repair cost 50 million crowns.

During the 1990s, some people started criticizing the previous reconstruction of the bridge and proposing further work. As of the beginning of the new millennium, most of the experts appeared to agree that the previous reconstruction had not been flawless but disputed the need for further interference with the bridge. However, after the disastrous

(which themselves caused only minor harm to the bridge), support for an overall bridge reconstruction grew. It was decided that repair and stabilization of the two pillars (numbers 8 and 9) on the Malá Strana side of the bridge would be done. These are the only river pillars that were not repaired after the 1890 floods. The reconstruction was a gradual process that closed off parts of the bridge without closing the span entirely.

Performed from 2008 to 2010, the work included bolstering the pillars and building a new hydroisolation system protecting the bridge. It also encompassed a re-pavimentation of the bridge's pavement and the replacement of many of the stones in the bridge walls, a matter which was controversial due to a heavy-handed approach adopted by the restoration team, which had no previous experience in restoration of cultural heritage monuments. The result has been criticised by conservation professionals all over Europe (see photos on external links), as dozens of new replacement stones do not match the historical ones they are next to, the amount of replaced stones is considered excessive, some stones have been inappropriately positioned, original stones have been chipped and joining materials employed are considered not appropriate for the structure.^[7][8] In 2010 UNESCO's World Heritage Committee adopted a decision stating that "the restoration of Charles Bridge was carried out without adequate conservation advice on materials and techniques".^[9]

Statues on the bridge

The avenue of 30 mostly Baroque statues and statuaries situated on the balustrade forms a unique connection of artistic styles with the underlying Gothic bridge. Most sculptures were erected between 1683 and 1714.^[2] They depict various saints and patron saints venerated at that time. The most prominent Bohemian sculptors of the time took part in decorating the bridge, such as Matthias Braun, Jan Brokoff, and his sons Michael Joseph and Ferdinand Maxmilian.

Among the most notable sculptures, one can find the statuaries of

, although it was erected some 200 years later and does not belong to the main avenue.

Beginning in 1965, all of the statues have been systematically replaced by replicas, and the originals have been exhibited in the Lapidarium of the National Museum.

Tribute

On 9 July 2017, Google celebrated the 660th anniversary of Charles Bridge with a Google Doodle.^[10]

References

External links

• Media related to Charles Bridge at Wikimedia Commons
• Official Museum of Charles Bridge
• Charles Bridge at Structurae