Prague’s most familiar monument, connects the Old Town with the Little Quarter. Charles Bridge is magnificent 14th-century bridge, with its files of Baroque statues, passes under an arch below a Gothic tower.
Until 1741, Charles Bridge was the only crossing over the Vltava river. It is 520m long and is built of sandstone blocks, rumoured to be strengthened by mixiing mortar with eggs. The bridge was commissioned by Charles IV in 1357 to replace the Judith Bridge built by Peter Parler. The bridge’s original decoration was a simple cross.
The first statue – of St John Nepomuk – was added in 1683, inspired by Bermini’s sculptures on Rome’s Ponte Sant’Angelo. Today, due to wear and tear, many of the statues on the bridge are copies. The originals are kept in the Lapidarium of the National Museum in Prague and at Vysehrad. The Gotic Old Town Bridge Tower is one of the finest buildings of its kind in existence.
Charles Bridge is nowadays only for pedestrians but that is no problem using the Segway wheels specially design to operate in any pedestrian environment. The Segway is not considered as any motor vehicle. From these reasons is the Segway by far the fastest and as possible environmentally friendly tip how exploring the city, how to make sightseeing tour.
