The Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is situated in the centre of Europe and sometimes it’s called the hearth of Europe. It’s beautiful country with a lot of interesting places like mountains, ponds, national parks and so on. There is a lot of interesting cities. The most popular is our capital city Prague, then Kutná Hora, Telč, Olomouc, Plzeň, Brno and others. There are magnificent castles, ruins and chateaux like Karlštejn, Prague castle, Hluboká, Bezděz, Kuks and others.

History
The biggest prosperity of our country was under the King Charles IV.. Under his control The Czech kingdom became the centre of holy Roman Empire and the city of Prag was the capital town. Charles IV. built the second oldest stone bridge in our Republic. He established the prague archbischop and the Charles University – the oldest one in the middle Europe.
Then in the first part of 15th century appeared here Hussite Movement. It was named after John Huss, the rector of Charles University and a preacher. He tried to reform the Catholic church. He was burnt as a heretic on a stake.
Then reigned George of Poděbrady who was known for his endeavour to make securing peace.
After him reigned a short time Jagellonian dynasty. After them was Czech throne passed to Habsburg dynasty and the Czech Kingdom became a part of Austria Empire. The oppressed Czech nation for 400 years. They tried to germanise our nation, so they tried to liquidate Czech literature. After that many writers wrote in german because german was official language.
Since the year our country has been made independent. Our first president was T. G. Masaryk. He is our most famous president.
Then were the first and the second world war. Our state was destroyed by German ocuppation by Adolf Hitler. Almost all Jewish people were killed in concetrations camps.
Since 1968 has been our country oppressed by the comunists directed by Soviet Union. Communist regime was very strict and lasted 20 years till the velvet revolution in 1989. And from 1989 has been our state independent.

Prague
Prague is capital city of the Czech Republic and lies in the middle of Bohemia. The population is about 1,2 milion. Prague is divided into many borroughs. The historical centre is made up by the Old Town, Josefov, the Lesser Quarter, Hradčany, the New Town and Vyšehrad. Prague is now surrounded by a ring of modern houses.
Prague was found by Princess Libuše of Přemyslid dynasty. She predicted the future glory of Prague, which would touch the stars.
Prague has a large number of monuments. The most famous is Prague castle. It was founded after 880 by the first Přemyslid Prince Bořivoj. It’s greatest period was during the reign of Charles IV.
In 1344 started the construction of the St. Vitus Cathedral. During the reign of Rudolf II. The Castle became a famous centre of arts and culture. Famous sights in the Prague Castle include: St. Vitus Cathedral, the Royal Palace with Vladislav Hall, Spanish Hall, The Golden Lane. There is too Daliborka and St. George Basilika.
The most famous bridge in Prague is The Charles Bridge. It was commisioned by Charles IV. in 1357 and built by a famous gothic architect Petr Parléř. On both ends of the bridge are Gothic Bridge Towers. It’s second oldest bridge in Central Europe. In 18th century was it decorated by baroque statues made by Matyáš Braun and Jan Brokoff. During all year is it always full of tourists, souvenirs stalls and street artists.
The busiest part of Prague is Wenceslas Sqare. It‘s in the centre of the city. It’s the longest square in our state. It’s 750 metres long. In the upper part stays The statue of the Czech patron – St. Wenceslas. The statue is made by J. V. Myslbek and it’s a symbol of a free and independent republic. On the top of this square is the National Museum.
There are a lot of theatres – for example: Smetana Theater, Magic Latern, the Reduta Hall, the Lucerna Hall, the Tyl Theatre, the Vinohrady Theater, Divadlo na zábradlí and the best is the National Theater. The National Theatre was built in second half of the 19th century in late renaissance style from the public money collection of people. After opening in 1881 was it damaged by fire and rebuilt in the next two years. The best artists as M. Aleš, F. Ženíšek, and V. Hynais decorated the theatre.
Many world known personalities lived or spent some time in Prague – Mozart, Beethoven, Descartes, Paganini, Kafka and others.
Prague is also an important industrial and bussiness centre. It’s also a cultural and touristic centre of our Republic.

There are many great natural beauties in our Republic. South Bohemia is rich in ponds and interesting cities and castles. The most beautiful natural places are in the Czech Paradise, „rock town“ in Prachov rocks, the Děčín walls, Czech Switzerland, the Boubín virgin forests, Macocha abbys and so on. We have too protected areas- near river Dyje, KRNAP and other national parks.
Czech people are known in the world for work industry, their special sense for humour, good hockey players and for drinking beer in big quantity.
Our Republic is now going to enter The European Union and I beleive that we can manage it.