Zprávy památkové péče 2015, 75(3):250-253

Old Town Square as a dictionary for heritage preservation

Ondřej Šefců

The Old Town Square is perceived as an integral part of the Old Town and Old Prague in general, as a kind of constant element that has been here from the earliest stages of the city's development (or perhaps even earlier) and which will always be here. But a deeper insight into the development of the square, especially over the last 200 years, shows what kind of deep changes took place here and could have taken place, and how sometimes it was just a remarkable coincidence which contributed to the fact that the square has remained almost complete and, even today, despite all the devastation resulting from the weakly managed phenomenon of mass tourism, stands as convincingly and credibly as a witness to the earliest history of Prague should stand. When examining the modern intersections of the development of the square, for interest and better understanding, we deepen our knowledge by sorting out the processes into a kind of a small glossary of conservation. The Old Town Square provides great material for this type of examination.

Keywords: Old Town Square, anastylosis, reconstruction, conservation

Published: September 1, 2015  Show citation