Staroměstské náměstí

Description Old Town

The area of today’s Old Town Square used to be a market which had been there before Old Town was founded. Originally it was a free space market, houses started being built later. By 1211 it already had its own administrator who was collecting fees and looking after the smooth running of the markey. In 1338 Jan Lucembursky issued a decree which enabled the village to build a town house. It comprised nine houses. Also built at this time was the Old Town Tower on which the famous astronomical clock was placed.

The Old Town Square has always been at the centre of the most important events in Czech history. For instance, in 1422 Jan Zelivsky was executed here as well as Jan Rohac from Dube in 1437. The well-known execution of 27 Czech nobles, participants of the uprising against the Habsburgs, took place here in 1621. In 1902 a demonstration for universal suffrage was held here and in 1948 it was the place where the Communist Party’s launched its power takeover.

The Old Town Square is located on the Royal Mile which leads from today’s Republic Square through Celetna Street, Little Square, Charles‘ Street and over the Charles Bridge towards Prague Castle. There are many beautiful historical houses and other cultural, historical and clerical landmarks along the way.
Nowadays the tradition of markets is revisted twice every year with the Christmas market and the Easter market, both equally atmospheric and picturesque and enjoyed by tourists and Praguers alike. Old Town Square is undoubtedly a must see that no one misses when visiting Prague.

Prague Astronomical Clock

The Prague Astronomical Clock or Prague Orloj (Czech: Pražský orloj, [praʒski: ɔrlɔi]) is a medieval astronomical clock located in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, at. The Orloj is mounted on the southern wall of Old Town City Hall in the Old Town Square and is a popular tourist attraction.



The oldest part of the Orloj, the mechanical clock and astronomical dial, dates back to 1410 when it was made by clockmaker Mikuláš of Kadaň and Jan Šindel, the latter a professor of mathematics and astronomy at Charles University. The Prague Orloj was one of a number of complex astronomical clocks designed and constructed during the 14th and 15th centuries, soon after the invention of the mechanical clock. Other examples were built at Norwich, St Albans, Wells, Lund, Strasbourg, and Padua.

In 1552 it was repaired by Jan Taborský, clockmaster of Orloj, who also wrote a report on the clock where he mentioned Hanuš as maker of the clock. This was a mistake, and was corrected during the 20th century.


There exists a good deal of misinformation relating to the construction of the Orlo. For a long time it was believed that the Orloj was constructed in 1490 by clockmaster Jan Růže (also called Hanuš) and his assistant Jakub Čech. Another fictitious story involves the clockmaker Hanuš being blinded on the order of the Prague Councillors to prevent him from constructing another similar clock.

Functions noted



Stationary background

The background represents the Earth and the local view of the sky. The blue circle directly in the center represents the Earth, and the upper blue is the portion of the sky which is above the horizon. The red and black areas indicate portions of the sky below the horizon. During the daytime, the sun sits over the blue part of the background and at night it sits over the black. During dawn or dusk, the mechanical sun is positioned over the red part of the background.


Golden Roman numbers at the outer edge of blue circle are the timescale of a normal 24 hour day and indicate time in local Prague time, or Central European Time. Curved golden lines dividing the blue part of dial into 12 parts are marks for unequal hours. These hours are defined as 1/12 of the time between sunrise and sunset, and vary as the days grow longer or shorter during the year.

Zodiacal ring, astronomical dial

Inside the large black outer circle lies another movable circle marked with the signs of the zodiac which indicates the location of the sun on the ecliptic. The signs are shown in anticlockwise order. In the photographs accompanying this article, the sun is currently in Aries, and will be moving anticlockwise into Taurus next.



Old Czech time scale

At the outer edge of the clock, golden Schwabacher numerals are set on a black background. These numbers indicate Old Czech Time (or Italian hours), measured ending with 24 at sunset. This ring moves during the year to coincide with the time of sunset.





The movement of the Moon on the ecliptic is shown similarly to that of the Sun, although the speed is much faster. The half-silvered sphere of the moon also shows the Lunar phase.

Computer Model of Prague Orloj

The movements of the various mechanical parts of the astronomical dial are too slow to appreciate in real time, but become easier to comprehend using a computer model of Orloj. An animated picture and a spreadsheet that 'constructs' the clock for each moment in the year and at each place in the world is to see in a Didactic explanation

Animated figures

The four figures flanking the clock are set in motion at the hour. These represent the four things which are despised. Starting with Death (represented by a skeleton) striking the time. On the hour. Vanity (represented by the figure holding a mirror), Greed (the figure with the bag) and finally the Turkish (the figure with the turban).


The calendar below the clock was added in 1870.