Prague to Host Re-Enactment of Charles Bridge Foundation Ceremony

The Charles Bridge Museum in Prague will mark the 666th anniversary of the foundation of the Charles Bridge on July 9 (Sunday).

All of them will take place in the early morning and are free of charge.

At 5:00 a.m., there will be a historical costume procession with the King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV and his wife. A medieval procession of knights on horseback, musicians, entertainers, city officials, and other entourage members will march from the Lesser Town to the Old Town Bridge Tower.

At 5:31, on Křížovnické náměstí Square, a reenactment of the ceremony laying the first stone of the Charles Bridge will begin. It was on this day, at this hour and minute in 1357, that the emperor gave the start to the construction of the bridge.

Interestingly enough, the date July 9 and the time 5:31 were chosen on the advice of astrologers who, according to the location of the planets, considered it most favorable for the beginning of construction.

In the middle of the 20th century, Czech astronomer Zdeněk Gorsky hypothesized that the date and time were chosen not only because of the favorable horoscope but also because of the magic of numbers. If you write the numbers in the format “year-day-month-hour-minute,” you will get the numerical palindrome “135797531”.

The astronomer claims that magic numbers were very important in those times and that a bridge laid at such a moment had to stand for centuries.

The event took place last year, and despite the early hour, it was very popular with Prague residents.