Prague legends every visitor should know

Czechs love a good legend, and they know exactly which ones are true and which are made up. Learn a few and you get something the guidebook can't give you: a reason to look at a clock, a bridge or a hill twice. Here are six, with the facts alongside.

Libuše's prophecy

According to the legend, Prague began with Princess Libuše, a legendary ruler, who stood on a rock at Vyšehrad and prophesied a great city whose glory would touch the stars. She told her people to build a castle where a man was making the threshold of a house. The Czech word for threshold is práh, which gives the name Prague. Medieval chronicles wrote the story down centuries after the supposed events. Smetana made it into the opera Libuše, which opened the National Theatre in 1881; see our guide to the National Theatre.

The astronomical clock

The Old Town's astronomical clock (orloj) dates from 1410, with parts added later. The legend says its maker, Master Hanuš, was blinded after finishing it so that he could never build another. Historians have found no evidence. The clock is real, though, and its apostles still appear on the hour. Arrive a few minutes early. The crowd is half the show.

Eggs in the bridge

A story says the builders of the Charles Bridge strengthened the mortar with eggs, and locals still repeat it. It's a tale, not a documented fact, but a good one: the bridge has stood since the fourteenth century. See our Charles Bridge guide for how to visit.

John of Nepomuk

On the Charles Bridge stands a statue of Saint John of Nepomuk, installed in 1683. According to tradition he was thrown from the bridge into the Vltava in 1393, on the orders of King Wenceslas IV, for refusing to reveal the queen's confession. The core of it, that a priest called John of Nepomuk was drowned in 1393, is historical. The confession detail is a later embellishment. Touching the plaque on the statue is said to bring luck or a return to Prague, which is why the metal is shiny.

The prisoner who played the violin

The Daliborka tower at Prague Castle is named for Dalibor of Kozojedy, a knight imprisoned in the late fifteenth century. The legend says he learned to play the violin in his cell and that crowds came to listen. Save this one for the Castle visit; see our Prague Castle guide.

The Golem

The best-known Prague legend lives in Josefov and has its own guide: the Golem legend.

Reading legends sensibly

Folk tales were told, adapted and pinned to buildings long after the events. Prague's nineteenth-century national revival, when writers and artists collected stories, shaped many of the versions you hear today. That doesn't make them worthless, since old stories show what a city feared and admired.

Here is a test. If a guide says "this definitely happened", ask for the source. If they say "the story goes", they're being honest. The better guides do the second.

Pairing stories with places

Libuše goes with Vyšehrad, the clock with the Old Town Square, the bridge with a sunrise walk. Stories stick when you're standing where they happened. For the real history behind them, see a short history of Prague.

Do this today

Pick one legend, go to its place and read the story aloud, quietly, to whoever you're with. It works better than a plaque.