The most intact medieval city in Europe — cobblestones, castle spires, and Bohemian pilsner at source
Prague is the best-preserved medieval city in Europe, and unlike many European capitals it survived both World Wars largely intact — which means you're walking on the same stones as Holy Roman Emperors. The Old Town (Staré Město) and Malá Strana (Lesser Town) on either side of the Charles Bridge form a UNESCO World Heritage ensemble; the Prague Castle complex above is the largest ancient castle complex in the world by area. Czech food is the most underrated in Europe: svíčková (slow-braised beef sirloin in root vegetable cream sauce with bread dumplings), trdelník from street vendors, and por…
Prague's origins trace to the 9th-century founding of Prague Castle; by the 14th century under Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV it was one of the largest cities in Europe — he founded Charles University (1348, the oldest in Central Europe), the Charles Bridge, and St. Vitus Cathedral. The city was a center of the Protestant Reformation before the Habsburgs forcibly recatholicized it after 1620. The 20th century left sharper scars: Nazi occupation (1939–1945), a Communist coup (1948), the Prague Spring of 1968 (a liberal reform movement crushed by Soviet tanks), and finally the Velvet Revolution…