On one balcony in February 1948, a Communist leader spoke as his party took power, and the photograph of that day was later retouched to erase a man who stood beside him. On another, in November 1989, a playwright just out of prison and the exiled reformer of 1968 stood side by side above a square full of people jingling their keys. This walk goes from the first balcony to the second and on to the top of Wenceslas Square: the student march of 17 November 1989 and its bronze hands, the theater that became a revolution’s headquarters, the museum front still patched where soldiers fired on it in 1968, and the two students, Jan Palach and Jan Zajíc, whose protest in 1969 Prague took twenty years to honor by name. Every claim is sourced and every dispute labeled; the record speaks, not the guide. No tickets needed.
The stops
- Jan Palach Square: Named Twice
- The Kinský Balcony: A Photograph and a Hat
- Národní 16: Bare Hands
- The Adria Palace: The Magic Lantern
- Můstek: A Lorry and a Square
- Melantrich: The Borrowed Balcony
- Wenceslas Square 39: Jan Zajíc
- The Statue and the Scarred Museum
- The Cross in the Pavement: Jan Palach
Finding the start
Start on Jan Palach Square (náměstí Jana Palacha) at the corner of the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, by the bronze Jan Palach memorial plate, with the Rudolfinum across the tram street. Staroměstská metro station (line A) is about 100 meters away; trams stop at Staroměstská on 17. listopadu.
Terrain and access
About 2.9 kilometers on city streets and squares, step-free, with cobbles on most of the route and a gentle climb up Wenceslas Square at the end. No admissions needed; everything is seen from outside. Tram tracks are crossed on zebras and at one unmarked crossing; the only traffic lights are in front of the National Museum. The upper half of Wenceslas Square is a tram construction site until about mid-2027, so the last three stops may need small detours along signed walkways. The tour ends beside Muzeum metro station (lines A and C, with a lift at one entrance).
Tickets
No admissions needed; everything is seen from outside.
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
- Photo: Filip Troníček, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (license)
- Photo: Daniel Baránek, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (license)
- Photo: Ondřej Žváček, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons (license)
- Photo: MartinVeselka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (license)
- Photo: Paul Korecky, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (license)
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