Prašná brána

Prašná brána review Rate it

The Powder Gate (or Tower) is a piece of late 15th-century flotsam, a lonely relic of the fortifications that used to ring the whole town. The bridge that incongruously connects it to the art nouveau masterpiece of the Municipal House used to give access to the royal palace that stood on the same site during the tenth century. By the mid-14th century, Charles IV had founded Nové Město, the New Town, and the city's boundaries had changed. The Powder Gate mouldered until it finally gained a purpose, and a name, when it became a store for gunpowder in 1575. Unfortunately, this made it a target for invading Prussian troops, and it was severely damaged during the siege of 1757. The gate was once again left to crumble until the neo-Gothic master Josef Mocker provided it with a new roof and redecorated the sides in the 1870s.