A long castle on a hill with a Gothic cathedral, above red roofs and a stone bridge over a river.
Two stone groups of giants fighting on tall gate piers, an iron railing and sentry boxes in front of a pale palace.
Red tiled roofs and church towers below a green hill, seen over a wall.
A tall pale palace front with a turret at the corner, on a cobbled square.
A blue cast-iron head with a helmet-like top on a post.
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Down from the Castle: Kings, Habsburgs and the Window of 1618

$18.95 per tour

A war that began with three men thrown from a window, followed downhill from the Castle gate to the Old Town

Categories: ,
Phones
2 included, extra phones $2.95 each
Length
About 90 minutes
Distance
About 2.8 km (1.7 mi)
Stops
10
Effort
Moderate
Starts at
Pražský hrad
Ends at
Stavovské divadlo
Language
English

Content advisory: the 1618 defenestration, the torture and killing of John of Nepomuk in 1393 and war deaths are told without graphic detail; the bonus mentions the executions of 1621 and the display of heads on the bridge tower, briefly.

This is a self-guided smartphone experience. No human guide will meet you.

Start when you want, pause whenever you like, explore side streets, and go at your own pace.

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In May 1618 the Protestant lords of Bohemia threw two of the emperor’s governors and their secretary out of a window of Prague Castle. All three survived, and the Thirty Years’ War began. This walk follows that story downhill, outside the Castle gates: the Castle’s Habsburg front and a gate of 1614, the window and the four ways people explained the survival, the house where it was planned the night before, the square the winners rebuilt after White Mountain, the kings’ coronation road, Charles IV’s bridge and the palindrome legend, a saint put up for the wrong anniversary, the tower the Swedes never got past in 1648, the Jesuits who were expelled and came back to take over the old university, and the theater that carries the losers’ name, where Don Giovanni had its premiere. Mostly downhill, by the Castle Steps or by a no-stairs way down Nerudova. No tickets needed.

The stops

  1. Hradčany Square: The Castle from the Gate
  2. Above the Castle Steps: The Window of 1618
  3. The Smiřický Palace: The Night Before
  4. The Upper Square: What Victory Built
  5. The Bridge Towers: The Kings’ Road
  6. Charles Bridge: The Emperor’s Stone Bridge
  7. John of Nepomuk: The Winners’ Saint
  8. The Old Town Bridge Tower: Where the Siege Ended
  9. The Clementinum: Two Universities
  10. The Estates Theater: The Losers’ Name

Finding the start

Start on Hradčany Square, about 30 meters in front of the main gate of Prague Castle with the fighting giants on its piers. From the tram stop Pohořelec (trams 22 and 23) it is about 800 meters along Loretánská; from the tram stop Pražský hrad you can walk through the Castle courtyards to the square (security check).

Terrain and access

Mostly downhill, with about 25 meters of gentle climbing in all, about 2.8 kilometers (about 3 kilometers by the no-stairs variant), almost entirely on cobbles. The main route goes down the Castle Steps, a long stairway with a handrail (OpenStreetMap estimates about 200 steps). The no-stairs variant goes down the steep cobbled ramp Ke Hradu and Nerudova street instead, about 270 meters longer, with no steps; the walk says where it begins. Tram tracks cross Malostranské náměstí. Charles Bridge, Mostecká, Karlova and Old Town Square are very crowded from late morning, so an early start is best. No admissions needed; the tour has no narrated stop inside the Castle gates, and the Castle grounds ban playing sound aloud, so use earbuds.

Tickets

No admissions needed; the tour tells the Castle from outside its gates.

Keep going

What you get

  • An email from [email protected] with a link and an access code.
  • Use it on your phone or tablet in an up-to-date web browser, no app store needed. There is no account to set up before you start.
  • Download it on Wi-Fi before you go. After that it works offline: audio, text, map and pictures.
  • Your booking includes 2 phones, so two of you can follow along, each on your own. Extra phones are $2.95 each, or a group can share one phone on its speaker.
  • Play, pause and replay every part, skip back and ahead, or change the playback speed. Keep the screen on or tap play at each stop.

How it was made

Every fact in the narration is checked against a cited source, and legends are told as legends. The narration is written from that research. How our tours are made.

Image credits

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