PRAGUE Presentation 3F

Tuesday, 6 th march 2018
Visita del quartiere Stare Mesto (Città Vecchia): Il municipio, le chiese, la Torre delle
polveri.
The Tower of the astronomical clock
One of the wonders of the world stands out in the Prague sky: it is the tower of the
old town hall, an architectural masterpiece embellished by the famous
astronomical clock, one of the oldest in the world, now a symbol of the Czech
capital.
Visitors will find remarkable namely the astronomical clock on the Southern side of
the town hall’s tower. It was built in 1410 by Mikuláš of Kadaň, and perfected at the
end of the 15th century by master Hanuš of Růže. According to a legend by Jirásek,
the astronomical clock was built by master Hanuš. After the completion, Prague
councilmen had him blinded in order to prevent him from building a copy. Master
Hanuš took his revenge by stopping the astronomical clock. In fact, the
astronomical clock really did stop in 1865, and there was a risk that it would be
removed. Luckily, Prague watchmaker Ludvík Hainz managed to repair the
mechanism, and he became its caretaker together with his descendants. The
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