57 Facts About Prague

Prague is a political, cultural, and economic hub of central Europe, with a rich history and Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architectures.

Prague is home to a number of well-known cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence and destruction of 20th-century Europe.

Since 1992, the historic center of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.

Prague is classified as an "Alpha-" global city according to GaWC studies.

In 2017, Prague was listed as the fifth most visited European city after London, Paris, Rome, and Istanbul.

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Prague's is said to have ordered the city "to be built where a man hews a threshold of his house".

Prague is called the "City of a Hundred Spires", based on a count by 19th century mathematician Bernard Bolzano; today's count is estimated by the Prague Information Service at 500.

Nicknames for Prague have included: the Golden City, the Mother of Cities and the Heart of Europe.

Around the fifth and fourth century BC, a Celtic tribe appeared in the area, later establishing settlements including an oppidum in Zavist, a present-day suburb of Prague, and naming the region of Bohemia, which means "home of the Boii people".

Around the area where present-day Prague stands, the 2nd century map drawn by Ptolemaios mentioned a Germanic city called Casurgis.

Construction of what came to be known as Prague Castle began near the end of the 9th century, expanding a fortified settlement that had existed on the site since the year 800.

Prague Castle is dominated by the cathedral, which began construction in 1344, but wasn't completed until the 20th century.

Until Prague was elevated to archbishopric in 1344, it was under the jurisdiction of the Archbishopric of Mainz.

Prague was an important seat for trading where merchants from across Europe settled, including many Jews, as recalled in 965 by the Hispano-Jewish merchant and traveler Abraham ben Jacob.

Prague flourished during the 14th-century reign of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and the king of Bohemia of the new Luxembourg dynasty.

Prague began construction of the Gothic Saint Vitus Cathedral, within the largest of the Prague Castle courtyards, on the site of the Romanesque rotunda there.

Prague was elevated to an archbishopric in 1344, the year the cathedral was begun.

Prague lived in the Prague Castle, where his court welcomed not only astrologers and magicians but scientists, musicians, and artists.

In 1618, the famous second defenestration of Prague provoked the Thirty Years' War, a particularly harsh period for Prague and Bohemia.

Prague was forcibly converted back to Roman Catholicism followed by the rest of Czech lands.

Prague began a steady decline which reduced the population from the 60, 000 it had had in the years before the war to 20, 000.

Prague took Prague after a severe and prolonged siege in the course of which a large part of the town was destroyed.

Prague was chosen as its capital and Prague Castle as the seat of president Tomas Garrigue Masaryk.

At this time Prague was a true European capital with highly developed industry.

For most of its history, Prague had been a multi-ethnic city with important Czech, German and Jewish populations.

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In 1942, Prague was witness to the assassination of one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany—Reinhard Heydrich—during Operation Anthropoid, accomplished by Czechoslovak national heroes Jozef Gabcik and Jan Kubis.

In February 1945, Prague suffered several bombing raids by the US Army Air Forces.

Many historic structures in Prague, however, escaped the destruction of the war and the damage was small compared to the total destruction of many other cities in that time.

The majority of the German population of Prague either fled or were expelled by the Benes decrees in the aftermath of the war.

Prague was a city in a country under the military, economic, and political control of the Soviet Union.

In 2002, Prague suffered from widespread floods that damaged buildings and its underground transport system.

Prague launched a bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics, but failed to make the candidate city shortlist.

In June 2009, as the result of financial pressures from the global recession, Prague's officials chose to cancel the city's planned bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Prague is approximately at the same latitude as Frankfurt, Germany; Paris, France; and Vancouver, Canada.

Precipitation in Prague is rather low since it is located in the rain shadow of the Sudetes and other mountain ranges.

Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic and as such is the regular seat of its central authorities.

Until 1949, all administrative districts of Prague were formed by the whole one or more cadastral unit, municipality or town.

Prague is autonomously administered by the Prague City Assembly, which is elected through municipal elections and consists of 55 to 70 members.

Executive body of Prague, elected by the Assembly is a Prague City Council.

Video games set in Prague include Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb, Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption, Soldier of Fortune II: Double Helix, Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon, Still Life, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.

Prague employs almost a fifth of the entire Czech workforce, and its wages are significantly above average.

The number of foreign residents in Prague has been increasing in spite of the country's economic downturn.

In 2005, Prague was deemed among the three best cities in Central and Eastern Europe according to The Economist's livability rankings.

Prague is the site of some of the most important offices and institutions of the Czech Republic.

Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, Prague has become one of the world's most popular tourist destinations.

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Prague suffered considerably less damage during World War II than some other major cities in the region, allowing most of its historic architecture to stay true to form.

Prague is classified as an "Alpha-" global city according to GaWC studies, comparable to Vienna, Manila and Washington, D C Prague ranked sixth in the Tripadvisor world list of best destinations in 2016.

Prague Zoo, selected in 2015 as the fourth best zoo in the world by TripAdvisor.

Universities seated in Prague represent important centres of science and research activities.

Prague was selected to host administration of the EU satellite navigation system Galileo.

Prague has one of the highest rates of public transport usage in the world, with 1.

The system carries more than 360 million passengers annually, the highest tram patronage in the world after Budapest, on a per capita basis, Prague has the second highest tram patronage after Zurich.

Since 2005 the Regional Organiser of Prague Integrated Transport has franchised operation of ferries on the Vltava river, which are a part of the public transport system with common fares.

Prague is served by Vaclav Havel Airport Prague, the largest airport in the Czech Republic and one of the largest and busiest airports in central and eastern Europe.

Prague is the site of many sports events, national stadiums and teams.

City of Prague maintains its own EU delegation in Brussels called Prague House.

Prague was the location of U S President Barack Obama's speech on 5 April 2009, which led to the New START treaty with Russia, signed in Prague on 8 April 2010.