Photo: Vendors Pedestrians Charles Bridge Prague Czech Republic

Vendors sell their wares to passing pedestrians on the historic and recognizable Charles Bridge, which dates back to 1357. It was originally called the 'Stone Bridge' and is visited by thousands of tourists to Prague every year.

The historic Charles Bridge in Prague, has an extensive and colourful past. It is 516 metres long and almost 10 metres wide, and is decorated by about 30 statues, most of them in the baroque style and placed there around 1700. It also has three bridge towers on it, one of which on the Old Town side is one of the best examples of a civil gothic style building in the whole world.

When the bridge was first built, it was the only way to cross the Vltava River, and therefore became the most important connection between the Old Town of Prague on one side, including Prague Castle, and the rest of the city until 1841, when another means of crossing the river was finally built.

The bridge has been damaged a few times due to flooding. The first, in 1432, damaged three pillars on the bridge, and in 1784 a further five pillars were damaged by a flood. ... continue below the picture...

... In 1890 another flood hit Prague and the bridge was damaged again, five pillars and two statues were lost in the damage. The floods in 2002 also caused some damage, but not nearly as much as other floods.

During the night, the bridge is quite quiet, but during the day, as you can see here, the bridge deck is alive with vendors and salesmen selling their various goods to the many pedestrians walking by.

Vendors on the historic Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic, Europe.