Read Prague like a book

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Discover the stories of famous books while meandering about Prague. Search for the Golem in the alleys of Prague’s Jewish Quarter, glimpse a face with flaming eyes in the semi-precious stones of St. Vitus Cathedral like Apollinaire, or take a moment to see the world through the eyes of Kafka’s Gregor Samsa. Prague is not just the backdrop for famous novels - it is a city where literary stories continue to take unfold. That is why it rightly bears the title of UNESCO’s Creative City of Literature, and this year it is inviting the world to follow in its literary footsteps at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Bohemian Prague still inspires writers, poets and readers from the world over. Visit and become a part of its story.

The most famous literary works about Prague and their authors

For centuries, Prague has attracted writers, poets and playwrights with its mysterious atmosphere and bohemian lack of convention. Franz Kafka found existential restlessness, Gustav Meyrink the mysticism of the old Jewish Quarter, Guillaume Apollinaire saw wondrous visions, Václav Havel the absurdity of the modern world, and Milan Kundera the melancholic lightness of Central Europe. Discover the stories of the authors who transformed Prague into one of the most literary cities in the world.

Prague won’t let go. This little mother has claws. One must yield, or else – we would have to set it on fire from both ends, from Vyšehrad and Hradčany; maybe then it might we get away.

Franz Kafka

Follow in the footsteps of writers

Prague does not have its name for no reason. In truth, Prague is a threshold between life on Earth and the Heavens, a threshold much thinner and narrower than anywhere else…

Gustav Meyrink

Dan Brown’s Prague

Dan Brown’s latest novel, The Secret of Secrets, presents Prague as a city of hidden symbols, alchemy, ancient legends and mysteries, hidden beneath the surface of everyday life. Follow in the footsteps of Robert Langdon to places where the mysticism of the Jewish Quarter, the mysteries of Prague Castle, and the fascinating stories of science and human consciousness intersect. Upon reading the book, you will look at Prague more closely and perhaps even see what remains hidden to the ordinary eye.

More here.

 

The illustrated world of literary Prague

Take a journey through literary Prague with our illustrated map. Stroll through places associated with Franz Kafka, Bohumil Hrabal, Václav Havel and Jaroslav Seifert, visit famous cafés, libraries and mysterious corners of the Old Town, and see Prague through the eyes of writers, poets and literary heroes. A city of stories awaits you around every corner.

Get the map here.

 

Do not ask me why I like Prague so much; when a man falls in love, he is unable to explain it.

Umberto Eco

I was overcome by the urgent desire to ditch my obligations, borrow a punt, row out into the middle of the river, and let the yellowish-green current of the Vltava carry me from bridge to bridge.

Zdena Salivarová, from the novel Honzlová

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