The Old Town Bridge Tower was built at the end of the 14 th century according to a plan by Petr Parler, the favourite architect of Emperor Charles IV. It took about 25 years to build it and about 100 stone-cutters participated on the building.
The tower was damaged by Swedish troops, besieging Prague in 1648. You can see a stone board commemorating Prague citizens fighting with the Swedes, written in Latin language, on the side of the tower oriented to the Charles Bridge.
After the rebelling Czech Protestant noblemen were executed in 1621, heads of some of them were exhibited as a warning at the platform of the Old Town Bridge Tower. They stayed there for more than 10 years, then they were secretly took away in the night and buried.
Mysterious inscriptions
Under the roof at the top of the tower you can see two old mysterious inscriptions, which can be read from the left to the right or the opposite way and still have the same content. It reads: “Signate, signate, mere me tangis et angis” and “Roma, tibi subito motibus ibit amor”. It doesn´t make much sense, it means “sign, if you stain me with your touch you´ll be strangled” and “Rome, love will be sacrificed to you through upheavals”. These sentences allegedly contain a magical formula of power. It is a so-called magical trap, a conjuration, supposed to threaten evil powers. Such inscriptions were written usually on religious buildings especially in Italy.
Symbols and statues
There are symbols of countries under the reign of Charles IV. above the gateway: the most important is the symbol of black eagle on a golden background, which means that Charles IV. was the Holy Roman Emperor and the symbol of silver two-tail lion on a red background, saying that he was also the King of Bohemia.
Statues in the first floor represent the patron of the Charles Bridge St. Vitus, the Emperor Charles IV. and Wenceslas IV. They are excellent works of art from around 1380, probably made by Michael Savoyen. They were replaced by replicas in 1978.
A marvelous photograph of a marvelous site. Love the low angle capture and the superb clarity. Thank you very much for the fine narrative. It was very interesting to read and think about.
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