Charles Bridge 650 Years Young

While the Charles Bridge seems to be getting more and more crowded with each passing tourist season, it's still looking fine for all of its years. The historic monumental bridge has survived floods, invasions, revolutions, and its biggest challenge yet: throngs of tourists that flood the 516 metre long bridge continuously for three or four months straight. The bridge is Prague's number one attraction for the four million or so tourists that visit the city each year.

The ceremony for the 650th birthday of the Charles Bridge took place on Monday morning at 5:31 am. It was at that time on the same day in 1357 that King Charles IV founded the bridge and work on its construction began (9.7.5.3.1 was the sequence used by astrologers to find the most auspicious time for the project to began). Somehow that magical combination worked, as the Charles Bridge is still standing strong.

The early morning ceremony included actors imitating the 30 statues lining the bridge, as well as a re-enactment of the founding of the bridge, and several speeches. Of course, only the most intrepid would be out of bed that early for such a ceremony (or still up, as was probably the case for some tourists), but those that made it got to enjoy a morning toast and a special mass in a nearby church by the archbishop of Prague.

But now that the celebrations have ended, the Gothic bridge itself will be getting a makeover for the next two years, though a corridor of it will remain so tourists and locals can still pass through.