History

The place started developing and in the late 10th-century the bishopric was created. One century later Prague became capital of the Czech Republic. In the 12th-century the two margins of the Vltava were joined by a stone bridge, one of the first in central Europe.

In the 13th-century the 'Old Town' grows, and in the early 14th-century the city is enforced; the bishopric was created, the first university in Central Europe is founded and even the Czech King reaches imperial dignity. Prague was then a city at the height of the other of the grand cities in Europe.

It was a brilliant era ended in the early 15th-century. Jan Hus, who attended the university and supported the religious reform, was judged heretic and executed in 1415. A weak monarchy couldn't avoid the Hapsburgs occupying the Czech throne throughout the next century.

Prague becomes once again powerful. But in the early 17th-century more religious problems catalyzed the Thirty Years War, with ominous consequences for the city.

Recovered in the 18th-century, the city is beautified with an excellent baroque architecture that, still today, amazes tourists.

In the 19th-century the city lived a romantic and nationalist awaque, and Czechoslovakia becomes independent in 1918. In 1948 the State fell under communist domain, always against a Humanist ideology. In 1968 Prague lived it's 'spring', intending to create a 'socialism with a human face', and defeatened by the armed forces of the Warshaw Treaty.

In 1990 free ellections took again place, and three years later the country divided in two. The Czech Republic was born.

About Prague, Heart of Europe Heart of Europe History

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