Charles Bridge

Charles Bridge is in Prague, the capital of Czechia. It crosses the Vltava River.

It is made of big blocks of stone. A tower stands at each end, and statues stand along its sides.

Charles Bridge crosses the Vltava River in Prague's historic center, joining the Old Town and the Lesser Town. Prague City Tourism calls it the city's oldest bridge.

It is built of sandstone blocks and rests on 16 arches. Fortified towers stand at each end, and 30 statues and statue groups line its walls. UNESCO names the Gothic Charles Bridge among the monuments of particular importance in the Historic Centre of Prague, a World Heritage Site since 1992.

Prague City Tourism describes Charles Bridge as the city's oldest preserved bridge, built of sandstone blocks and flanked at each end by fortified towers: the Old Town Bridge Tower and the Lesser Town Bridge Towers.

UNESCO's description of the Historic Centre of Prague, inscribed in 1992, lists the Gothic Charles Bridge among the monuments of particular importance, together with Prague Castle and the Cathedral of St Vitus. UNESCO praises the city's setting on both banks of the Vltava River.

Thirty statues stand along the walls of the bridge, like a long line of stone people.

Some of them are copies. The old ones are kept safe in a museum.

Along the walls of the bridge stand 30 statues and statue groups. The oldest still standing in its original form dates from 1683, most were made between 1706 and 1714, and the last was added in 1928.

When statues were damaged by floods or weather, artists made copies to stand on the bridge, and many originals went to the National Museum's Lapidary, a museum of stone carvings. Most statues are carved from sandstone; a few are bronze or marble.

Prague City Tourism lists 30 sculptures and sculptural groups on the balustrade, carved from 1683 to 1928, most of them in 1706–1714. Statues lost to floods or worn by weather were replaced by copies made by later artists, and the originals were moved to places such as the National Museum's Lapidary. Most are sandstone; a few are marble or bronze.

At the ends stand the fortified towers. The smaller Lesser Town tower belonged to Judith's Bridge and took its present Renaissance look in 1591; the larger one was built in the second half of the 15th century, and the Old Town Bridge Tower was built by the same workshop as the bridge.

Long ago, trams and buses crossed this bridge. Today it is just for people on foot.

In the photo, lights glow along the bridge at night, and the river shines like a mirror.

Horse-drawn trams crossed Charles Bridge from 1883, then electric trams and buses. Cars stopped driving across it in 1965, and today it belongs to people walking.

The photo was taken at night on 18 August 2014. Lamps shine along the top of the bridge, the arches glow above the dark Vltava, and lit-up buildings of the Prague Castle area stand on the hill at the upper left.

A horse tram crossed the bridge from 1883 and an electric line from 1905, its power laid through the deck so no wires would spoil the view. The heavy cars shook the bridge, so buses replaced them in 1908; buses came back in 1932, and cars stopped crossing in 1965.

The photograph (18 August 2014, by Marc-Olivier Giguere, Wiki Loves Monuments 2014) shows the bridge at night: lamps along the parapet, dark statue silhouettes between them, lit arches and pillars reflected in the Vltava, and the floodlit Prague Castle area on the hill at the upper left.