Basic Info about Prague

1
Basic Info about Prague
Contents
General Info ............................................................................................................................ 2
A Brief History of Czechs ........................................................................................................ 3
Transportation From The Airport .......................................................................................... 7
a. by BUS ........................................................................................................................... 7
b. using TAXI service ....................................................................................................... 10
Transportation Within Prague .............................................................................................. 11
a. Taxi Transport ............................................................................................................. 11
b. Public Transport: General Info .................................................................................... 12
c. Public Transport: Tickets & Fares ................................................................................ 13
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General Info
Currency = the Czech crown (‘CZK’ or in Czech ‘Kč’)
1 € (EUR) = approximately 27,14 Kč (CZK)
1 $ (USD) = approximately 24,46 Kč (CZK)
1 £ (GBP) = approximately 38,21 Kč (CZK)
Population: 1 259 079
Flag of Prague as the capital of the Czech Republic
Flag of the Czech Republic
Location of Prague within the Czech Republic
3
A Brief History of Czechs
The present-day Czech Republic was populated by Celts. They were the
4th century B.C.
Celts
first ethnic group to arrive in the area, according to historical evidence. The
Celtic Boii tribe gave the country its Latin name - Boiohaemum (Bohemia =
Czech). They were pushed out by the German tribes (Marcomanni, Quidi)
before the beginning of our era.
5th - 7th
century
Slavs
From one to two centuries later, Slavs arrived to the present-day Moravia
and Slovakia (east from Prague). In the 7th century, Slavonic tribes were united
into the so-called Samo’s kingdom.
In 863, the Byzantine Christian missionaries Constantin and Methodius
9th century
Christian
Missionaries
came to the part of the present-day Czech Republic, Moravia. They introduced
Slavic liturgy there.
However, the influence of the Roman Catholic Church expanded,
proving to be decisive in th e course of the history of Bohemia and Moravia.
9th century –
1306
Premyslid
Dynasty
A gradual strengthening of the Czech state occured during the reign of
the Premyslid dynasty.
Nevertheless, the Germans overshadowed them and in 950 Bohemia
became part of the Holy Roman Empire.
The 14th century is considered to be a golden age for the Czechs.
John, who ruled until 1346 spent most of his time abroad but his son
Charles IV was a great ruler. Under his reign Bohemia became rich and
powerful. In 1355, Charles IV was even elected Holy Roman Emperor. In
14th century
Charles IV
1356 he issued a golden bull which confirmed that the Holy Roman
Empire was a commonwealth of sovereign states and not just a single
empire.
More efficient farming methods from France together with gold and silver mines made
Bohemia prosperous. Charles built many new public buildings and under him the arts
flourished. Furthermore in 1348 he founded a university in Prague, the Charles University. It is
the oldest university in central Europe.
4
Economic and political crisis during the reign of
Wenceslas IV, the successor of Charles IV led to the creation
of the Hussite reform movement. This crisis was exacerbated
by the criticism of the Church in Europe. The Hussite
movement was inspired by the ideas of Master Jan Hus,
a preacher who was burnt at the stake in 1415 at Constance
for his critism of the Church. Despite his death, his supporters successfully continued in their
efforts to reform the Church. Heir to the crown of Bohemia, the Roman Emperor Sigismund,
15th century
Hussites
tried to defeat the growing revolution with force, but the Hussites defeated his five
consecutive crusades. Only the victory of 1434, when the moderates defeated the radicals,
opened the way for a temporary agreement between Hussite Bohemia and Catholic Europe. This
agreement, The Compacts of Basle was proclaimed in 1436 and confirmed the Hussite
denomination, and would later be paralleled by the Reformation of the 16th century.
The Hussite movement changed the structure of society in many ways. It created
religious dualism for the first time in Christian Europe. There was a decline in the power and
prosperity of the Church from which the nobility and towns were able to profit. The Czech
nation and Czech culture came to the forefront of social life. In the years of unrest, a Czech
noble - George of Podebrady, a skillful diplomat and a man of outstanding personality, became
the leader of Czech political life. He was elected King of Bohemia in 1458. His diplomatic
activities - notably his effort to establish a peace confederation of the European sovereigns even reached beyond the horizon of central Europe.
The Habsburgs of Austria succeeded to the throne of Bohemia when
16th century
Habsburgs
the Jagellon line died out. The Habsburg rule brought the re-introduction of
the Roman Catholic faith, centralization and the construction of a multinational empire. The Habsburgs included the Crownlands of Bohemia in their
monarchy, and they remained a part of the Habsburg empire until 1918.
When Rudolf II the Habsburg during his reign, left Vienna for Prague, Prague grew into
an important center of European culture. The Czech Estates forced Rudolf II to issue a decree so called "Maiestatus" - proclaiming freedom of religious confession. The Emperors Matthias
and Ferdinand tried to limit this freedom and their efforts sparked a civil war between the
Estates and the Catholic Emperor which later spread into Europe underthe name of the Thirty
Years' War. It began in 1618 when rebels threw Catholic nobles out of a window in Prague - the
so-called defenestration of Prague. However, the Estates were defeated in 1620 at the Battle of
17th century
Thirty Years
War
the White Mountain and the Kingdom of Bohemia lost its independence for the following
almost 300 years. The period of the Thirty
Years' War brought political disorder and
economic devastation to Bohemia which had
far-reaching consequences on the future d
evelopment of the country. The people of
Bohemia were forced to accept the Catholic
faith or to emigrate. The throne of Bohemia
was made hereditary in the Habsburg dynasty
and the most important offices were transferred permanently to Vienna. To make it even worse
5
a mass execution of 27 leaders of the Bohemian Revolt happened on June 21, 1621 at the Old
Town Square in Prague. The lost Battle of the White Mountain lead to centuries of fear and
happened to negatively affect the Czech spirit until today.
Czech fortunes revived in the mid-18th century. From 1740 Maria-
18th century
Maria-Theresa
Theresa was empress of Austro-Hungary and she was more sympathetic to
the Czechs than previous rulers. In 1773 the empress banned the Jesuits but
in 1781 her successor introduced religious toleration.
In the early 19th century Czech industry grew rapidly. The textile industry boomed. The
sugar industry and an iron industry also prospered. Meanwhile interest in Czech culture and
history grew. Among the leading minds of the 19th century were Josef Dobrovsky (a linguist)
19th century
Czech National
Revival
and Frantisek Palacky (a historian). Furthermore during the 19th century the great Czech
composer Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904) wrote operas, concertos and symphonies.
Although the Czech national revival movement aspired at first
only to a revival of the Czech language and culture, it soon began to
strive for political emancipation. In the revolutionary year 1848, Czech
politicians made the first coherent political propositions aimed at
rebuilding the empire into a federalist state. A desire for national
emancipation was supported by the quick industrialization of
Bohemia, which made the country the most developed land of the
monarchy in the second half of the 19th century.
In the years during World War I Czech politics took a turn towards radicalism as a result of
the activities abroad of T. G. Masaryk (that bald man
20th century
Czechoslovakia
in the right picture) and E. Benes, the future
presidents. The defeat of the Austria-Hungary cleared
the way for the foundation of an independent state
of Czechs and Slovaks (28.10.1918). Then the
Czechoslovak Republic became one of the ten most
developed countries of the world.
The end to Czechoslovakia was brought as the result of the Munich Conference which was
held in 1939. The Great Britain, France and Italy agreed with Adolf Hitler (without the presence
of Czechoslovakia) to sacrifice the state of Czechoslovakia and factically devoted its territory to
1939 - 1945
World War II
Adolf Hitler’s Germany because they selfishly thought this
would mean peace for their nations. But it proved to bring
exactly the opposite. The Czechs feel this betrayal until
today and this was the second biggest shock for the
Czech people after what happened as a result of the
defeat at the Battle of the White Mountain in 1620.
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After World War II, something even worse happened - the
restored republic became part of the Soviet sphere of power. A
period of "limited" democracy was ended by a Communist takeover in
February 1948. All private property was expropriated and political
and human rights were supressed. An attempt to change and
humanize Communist totality and to weaken ties to the Soviet Union
1948-1989
Communism
failed when the Soviet Army invaded the country in August 1968.
The era of communism was the third and the last dark time for the people of Czech. The
most intelligent people of the time were persecuted and some were even tortured to death.
The wealthy people lost all their property. The heroes of the World War II fighting against the
Hitler’s Germany were proclaimed as the state’s enemy and after that they were tortured and
murdered. Rest of the population was brainwashed by the Communist Party. Czech politians
were factically controlled by the Soviet Russia and the law was absolutely misused so it mainly
served for political purposes of the Soviets.
The gradual decay of the Communist regime and the
1989
Fall of the
Communist
regime
Soviet empire, and mass protests and demonstrations of the
Czechoslovak people culminated in the fall of the Communist
regime in November 1989. The changes were confirmed by
the election of Vaclav Havel as president of the republic.
On January 1, 1993, the Czechoslovak state was peacefully divided and the independent
Czech and Slovak Republics were founded. Václav Havel was elected the
1993
Foundation of
the Czech
Republic after
the split of
Czechoslovakia
first president of the Czech Republic. In the following years the Czech
Republic joined the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development-OECD (1994) and joined the NATO (1999) and EU (2004).
The Czechs have now completed the transformation of the formerly centralized state system
into a parliamentary democracy and market economy.
However, it will take time before the Czechs get over the 1620, 1939 and the 41 years of
terror under the communist regime.
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Transportation From The Airport
There are basically two ways you can be transported from the Prague Airport (Vaclav Havel Airport):
1. by BUS (page 7-9)
2. using TAXI service (page 10)
Whereas transportation by bus is cheaper, we’d strongly recommend to take a cab (taxi) at night (from 22:00 to 06:00).
1. by BUS
1.1. First you need tickets. You can buy them:
(a) via your smartphone or (b) at a vending machine on the bus stop in front of the airport or (c) you can buy a
ticket from a bus driver.
(a) via your smartphone
This is the easiest and the most elegant way to buy a bus ticket. Download application ‘SEJF’ (available on the
AppStore and GooglePlay). It is the official app for buying tickets in Prague financed by the Prague Public Transport
Company.
as you open the application SEJF, follow these simple steps ↓
1
2
3
4
8
(b) at a vending machine on the bus stop in front of the airport (if you do not posses a smartphone)
leave the airport
1
proceed to the bus stop, where vending
machines are located
2
1) insert coins of total amount of 110 CZK
2) then press the second button from the top
3) your ticket will be valid for 24 hours (if you
want a ticket for another 24 hours, you need
to buy another one)
4) validate your ticket inside the bus ↓
3
9
(c) from a bus driver (if you do not have enough coins nor possess a smartphone)
do not forget to validate your ticket inside the bus →
1.2. After buying tickets, get on a bus.
from the airport to Dejvická station (final station of the green line – A)
•
get on a bus 119
o
frequency: approximately every 10 minutes
from the airport to Zličín station (final station of the yellow line – B)
•
get on a bus 100
o
frequency: approximately every 30 minutes
from the airport to the Prague Main Railway Station, in Czech Hlavní nádraží station (can also be
reached at the red line of the Prague Metro)
•
get on a bus Airport Express (AE)
•
from 21:00 you need to go on the bus 119; when you arrive to Dejvická station, proceed to Muzeum
station which crosses the green line and the red line, transfer to the red line and drive one station in the
direction of Letňany station to Hlavní nádraží station
o
frequency: approximately every 30 minutes
10
2. using TAXI service
The easiest way is to call your taxi at 00420 737 222 333 (nonstop dispatching) or 00420 605 600 001 (business
class dispatching). If you intend to catch a taxi that already stays in front of the airport, ask for the fare per km.
27 CZK (1 EUR) per kilometer is the highest price you should accept.
How much will it cost?
•
Using phone number above you may expect to pay approximately* 450-600 CZK (17-22 EUR) to the city
center.
•
If you are accomodated somewhere else than in the city centre you shouldn’t pay more than 950 CZK
(35 EUR).
See next page for more information about using taxi service in Prague and how to get better prices.
* depending on when you call the taxi (more expensive during public holidays, weekends, late at night)
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Transportation Within Prague
Taxi Transport
As locals we would recommend to take a taxi from (and to) the airport and then use public transport within
the city, because not only it is usually faster (because of traffic jams) but also cheaper.
However, if you plan to go out at night or intend to use a taxi service anyway, definitely download ‘Modry
Andel‘ app on your smartphone (available on AppStore as well as on Google Play) – it provides you better fares for a
taxi (18 CZK / km, except for booking to/from the airport which has special fares) and eliminates the risk that taxi
drivers will charge you to pay an unfair price (they should not, but in reality they often do when you take a random
taxi). It is very simple to order a taxi transportation since the app localizates where you are and tells you how far the
nearest available car is (in minutes). You can also change the time and date of the arrival (let’s say you intend to take a
taxi from your accomodation to the airport tomorrow in the morning - you simply change the date and time of the
arrival in the app). If you want to see how much is the drive going to cost you, just fill in the get off address and the app
will calculate the estimated price for you.
How to order a taxi with Modry
Andel app:
1. Choose TAXI if you want to be
transported
within
the
city
OR
To/From airport Ruzyně if you want to
be transported from/to the Prague
airport.
2. Choose the Boarding address (the
app will usually automatically locate
where you are) and press Continue.
3. Confirm reservation or Change time
if you do not want the taxi to arrive
ASAP but at a specific time (optional)
and fill in the get off address (optional).
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Public Transport: General Info
Public transport in Prague can be divided into (i) metro (=subway), (ii) trams and (iii) buses. Since the guide you
purchased mainly works with metro stations (but if you want you can also take a taxi to every starting location),
we focus on this type of public transportation.
There are three lines of the Prague Metro: Green (A), Yellow (B) and Red (C).
All three lines meet
in the center of the city at three interchange (transfer) stations. Each interchange station has two halls, one hall for each
line (imagine there are two large floors – one for one line and the other for the second line).
Example: Let’s say you want to travel from the Prague airport (Dejvická, final station) to Náměstí Republiky
station (in the middle of the picture). In order to reach you destination, you need to travel from Dejvická station to
Můstek station. Then get off at Můstek station and transfer to the Yellow Line (look out for stairs/escalators with
a yellow sign indicating the transfer to line B above them, then simply follow the yellow sign/arrow until you reach the
station). The Náměstí Republiky station is right above Můstek station so you need to ride in direction of Černý Most
(the final station of the Yellow line). Get on the trace heading to Černý Most, ride one station and then get off at
Náměstí Republiky Station - and there you are! 
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Public Transport: Buying Tickets
Ticket for period of 24 hours cost 110 CZK. There are two ways to buy a ticket, at a vending machine (see this
page for more info) or via your smartphone (see next page for more info). Since vending machines require you to only
pay with coins, we require to use the second option. Buying a ticket via your smartphone also eliminates the risk that
you lose your ticket. Choose on your own which way to buy a ticket suits you the best - you pay 110 CZK no matter
which method you choose. You can also buy cheaper tickets, that really depends whether you intend to go out at night
and use public transport or not.
1. Ticket Vending Machine
Ticket vending machines are located near the entrance inside of all metro
stations.
Just choose which ticket you want to buy and press the button. You will
see displayed price. Now it’s time to put your money inside (you must use
only coins 1 CZK, 2 CZK, 5 CZK, 10 CZK, 20 CZK because vending machines
don’t accept any payment card nor banknotes). As soon as you put at least
the whole price, the vending machine gives you a ticket. Don’t worry, if
you put more money, you will get the change back .
← If you want your ticket to be valid,
you have to validate it! Once you validate
your ticket, the time period of your ticket
starts to run.
Please remember that this ticket we guide you to buy lasts only for 24 hours. If you need a ticket for a
longer period, you have to buy another one when your first ticket expires.
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2. Smartphone (Electronic Ticket)
Download application ‘SEJF’ (available on the AppStore and GooglePlay). It is the official app for
buying tickets in Prague financed by the Prague Public Transport Company.
To buy a one-day ticket via application SEJF, follow these 4 simple steps ↓
1
2
3
4
If you travel to Prague for 3 or more days, consider buying the ticket for 310 CZK (it lasts 72 hours).
You can also see a 30–second “How It Works” video here.
If you want to tell us anything that could make this guide better, please e-mail
us at [email protected]. We will be happy to hear from you!
We hope you’ll have a wonderful time in Prague,
Prague Travel Guides team.
© 2015 PragueTravelGuides.com