When I settled down with Prague it was mainly because of the photos I saw around, its colours, the beautiful Old Town Square, the magical Charles Bridge. However, when I finally booked my flight and started to document myself better, I was also fascinated by its history, so much so that I thought about a very specific tour in Prague.
In general, I always like to read about the history of the places I visit, and then I decided that once in Prague I would have liked to discover it in the best way possible, with someone expert who could tell me about the years of communism in Prague.
For this tour in Prague, which lasted about 3 hours, I relied on the boys of tourists for Prague. It is an agency that organizes guided tours in Italian (but not only) for several years now, born from the agreement of three Italians who have been living in the Czech capital for a long time. Beyond the great historical and cultural competence, in the words of these young people all the love that they feel for this capital city shines through. They almost convinced me to move to Prague! ὤ2
I really must thank them because they were very kind and very willing to meet all my needs and curiosities. On the site you can find several tours in Prague that the guys propose, from the historical to the gastronomic, to the more classic, but you can also ask to customize one that best suits your interests.
Communism Tours in Prague
The tour of Prague that I asked for led me to discover the places of the city linked to the communist period. It starts from Old Town Square and the Kinsky Palace, from whose terrace Gottwald, leader of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, spoke to the people in February 1948 after the coup d' état he orchestrated. Still from the Old Town Square you can glimpse the metronome in the Letnà gardens, in place of which at the end of the 50's there was a huge statue of Stalin (think that it was 30m high!) and whose construction and destruction Luca di Turisti for Prague tells me briefly the story.
Interesting was the visit to the street that housed the Communist Police in those essential buildings... and let's say ugly, and listen to the stories of the most famous innocent characters investigated and often sentenced to death during the Communist regime.
Passing through Wenceslas Square you enter the heart of the communist tour and the most intense period, at least from my point of view, of Czech history, namely that of Dub?ek's "socialism with a human face" and of the "Prague Spring", which attracted the ire of the USSR that invaded Czechoslovakia with tanks. As evidence of that raw period you will find a memorial for the two most famous martyrs, students Jan Palach and Jan Zajic.
Prague Communist Tours - Jan Palach
Wenceslas Square also plays an important role in the "velvet revolution" of 1989. From here begin stories about the perhaps most beloved character of Czech history, namely Václav Havel, playwright and protagonist of the battles for his people's freedom during the regime and elected after the end of Communism as President of the Republic almost by acclamation and for two mandates. An extraordinary character that I learn to love with tales and anecdotes that Luke knows very well, and along the road that Havel and Dub?ek travelled before proclaiming the end of communism in a Wenceslas Square crowded with festive people.
During the tour on Communism in Prague Luca also pointed out to me small memorials that I would certainly not have been able to see without his help, nor would I have been able to give any meaning. And then the story of the birth of John Lennon's wall and the provocations of David?erný.
Velvet Revolution - Prague
Memorial to the victims of Communism - Prague
As a icing on the cake of this communist tour in Prague it would have been perfect to add the visit to a bunker, but unfortunately they were holidays and were closed. Tourists in Prague can arrange this particular visit in one of the available bunkers, otherwise you can check out the bunker opening dates at Hotel Jalta in the city centre.
In short, if Prague had fascinated me before I landed, if I fell in love with it while walking along the streets, I was even happier when I was able to get to know it closely even from a historical point of view.
What kind of tour would you like to take in Prague?
If you are passionate about history, you can also follow this itinerary on Chile's history in Santiago.