Travel

Prague has always been the capital of the Bohemian lands. The present-day Czech Republic comprises the historic lands of Bohemia (west), Moravia (east), and a small slice of Silesia (north-east). Bohemia became a state at the end of the 10th century and was an independent kingdom under the Holy Roman (German) Empire until its annexation by Austria in 1626. Slovakia (further east) formed a part of Hungary for nearly 900 years. Hungary, in turn, was under Austrian rule from the 16th century onward. The union between the Czech lands and Slovakia was effected at the end of World War I in 1918. It disintegrated during World War II (1939-1945), and again in 1993, three years after the revolution that ousted the Communist regime. The communists held power in Czechoslovakia between 1948 and 1989. The new Democratic Czech Republic (1993-present) became a full member of the European Union in May 2004.

Travel

Please check with your travel agent if visa is required for your stay in the Czech Republic. Some countries request a letter of invitation by the symposium organizers before a visa can be issued. For this purpose please contact Martin Novak at martin.novakgeology.cz

The Prague International Airport has regular connections with most major European and overseas cities. To get from the airport to town, we recommend public transport bus no. 119. Public transport is about 20 times cheaper than taking a taxi from the airport to Brevnov Abbey. Public transport tickets can be purchased at a stand in the main airport lobby. Bus stations is located on an isle 50 meters outside the main airport building of Terminals 1 and 2. For description of your journey from the airport or the Main Train Station (Hlavni nadrazi) to the symposium venue please see Finding the Place in Prague.

Climate. Late-September in Prague is usually characterized by continental autumn weather, with temperatures between 8 and 16 oC. Do not forget to bring an umbrella.

Directions

Conference venue & Hotel Adalbert: Brevnovsky klaster (Brevnov Abbey), 28 Marketska Street, Brevnov, Prague 6.

How to get from Prague Airport to the Brevnov Abbey: Public transport is about 50 times cheaper than taxi. Buy a bus ticket at the Public Transport Counter at the airport terminal or from the bus driver. Use bus no. 225 or 179, get off at Brevnovsky klaster. You may also take bus no. 119 from the airport to Dejvicka, change to underground (metro), get off at the next stop Hradcanska, change to tram no. 25 uphill, get off at Brevnovsky klaster. You may also get off at metro station Malostranska and take tram no. 22 uphill to Brevnovsky klaster.

How to get from Brevnov Abbey (Registration) to Kajetanka: 10-15 minutes on foot dowhill, stay left of the main street. Kajetanka is the high rise on your left. Or, take tram no. 22 or 25 downhill, two stops, turn left between apatment buildings, down the steps. You may also take bus no. 174 downhill.

The street address of Dormitory Kajetanka: Kolej Kajetanka, Radimova 12/35.

How to get from the Main Train Station to the conference venue & Hotel Adalbert: Use underground (metro) line C from Hlavni nadrazi to Muzeum (1 stop, direction Haje), change to metro, line A, direction Dejvicka. Get off at metro station Malostranska and take tram no. 22 uphill to Brevnovsky klaster.

About Prague

A Brief History

Prague has always been the capital of the Bohemian lands. The present-day Czech Republic comprises the historic lands of Bohemia (west), Moravia (east), and a small slice of Silesia (north-east). Bohemia became a state at the end of the 10th century and was an independent kingdom under the Holy Roman (German) Empire until its annexation by Austria in 1626. Slovakia (further east) formed a part of Hungary for nearly 900 years. Hungary, in turn, was under Austrian rule from the 16th century onward. The union between the Czech lands and Slovakia was effected at the end of World War I in 1918. It disintegrated during World War II (1939-1945), and again in 1993, three years after the revolution that ousted the Communist regime. The communists held power in Czechoslovakia between 1948 and 1989.

In the 5th century BC, the Celtic tribe of Boii settled the Bohemian Basin, giving their name to the country. Western Slavs immigrated in the 6th century AD. Czechs established a tribal stronghold on Prague’s Castle Hill before 873 as vassals of the Great Moravian Empire. In 873, Borivoj, earliest documented ruler of the Premyslid dynasty, and his wife St. Ludmila, were baptized by St. Methodius, the ”Apostle of the Slavs“. They also founded the Prague Castle. The ”Good King Wenceslas“ , Borivoj’s grandson, established numerous churches with the aid of German missionaries. Latin replaced Slavonic liturgy, previously introduced via Great Moravia. Wenceslas was murdered by his pagan brother Boleslav the Cruel in 935 and later declared a saint. The year 965 marks the first written discription of Prague in the travelogue of the Jewish merchant Ibrahim ibn Jacob.

Already in the 10th century, Prague was ”a city built of stone and mortar, and a lively marketplace“. Prague was made a bishopric as early as in 973. In 1125-1140, Sobeslav built a Romanesque palace in stone on Castle Hill. In the 12th century, Prague, with its seven triple-naved Romanesque basilicas, was the third largest city in Europe, surpassed only by Rome and Paris. In 1212, the Czech rulers were recognized by the emperor as hereditary kings of Bohemia. Bohemian kings became one of the seven ex officio electors of the Holy Roman Emperor. The Old Town of Prague, located on the opposite bank of the Vltava (Moldau) river than the Castle, received its charter in c. 1230. The town was razed and rebuilt 9 feet higher to prevent flooding. King Premysl Otakar II (1253-1278) aquired Austria and Styria and expanded his territories from the Baltic to the Adriatic. King John of Luxemburg (1310-1346) devoted his energies to private adventures in various parts of Europe. During the reign of his son Charles IV (1346-1378), however, Bohemia reached its political and cultural peak. Prague was made an archbishopric in 1344. In the same year, the construction of the Gothic St. Vitus’s Cathedral commenced.  In 1348, Charles IV was elected Roman Emperor, with Prague as his residence. Also in 1348, he founded Charles University, the oldest university in Central Europe, one that is about 40 years older than the oldest German university in Heidelberg. The Gothic Charles bridge was constructed after 1357 by Peter Parler, the architect of St. Vitus’s Cathedral.

A Jewish community existed in Prague since the 10th century, in 1389 the Jews were massacred in their ghetto. The Czech Reformation was initiated by a learned University Rector named Jan Hus. This advocate of church reform was invited to the Council of Constance, arrested and burnt at stake as a heretic in 1415. Hus’s death triggered off a civil war. In 1419, Hussite radicals stormed the New Town Hall, hurling the councilmen from the window. Over 30 councilmen were killed in this so-called First Prague Defenestration. Five crusades sent by the Pope failed to defeat the Hussite army. The radical Hussites were finally defeated at Lipany in 1434. During the Hussite revolution, great numbers of monasteries and churches were looted and damaged, with monks killed by an angry mob. In 1526, the Bohemian estates elected Ferdinand of Austria, a Catholic and a Habsburg, to become their next king. In the 16th century, Renaissance became the fashionable style. The mainly protestant nobility grew increasingly unhappy with their foreign rulers who were breaking one promise after another. Rudolf II (1576-1611) was one of the few Habsburgs who resided in Prague and not in Vienna. He granted Bohemia religious liberty in 1609.  In 1618, leaders of the Protestant estates threw emperial envoys from the Castle’s windows in what became The Second Prague Defenestration, but also the beginning of the Thirty-Year War. In 1620, the Czechs were defeated at the Battle of the White Mountain near Prague. On year later (1621), 27 leaders of the ill-fated insurrection were beheaded in the Old Town Square. The Thirty-Year War ended by a Swedish besiege of Prague in 1648.

The period of Counter-Reformation started. Re-catholization of the nation was rather successfull, with 90 % of the population Catholic at the end of the 18th century. The rich Baroque style dominated arts and architecture (1680-1780). While Maria Theresia was Czech Queen for neary 40 years (1743-1780), her enemies, French and Prussian troups, were taking turns in Prague. Her son Joseph II (1780-1790) was an Enlightened reformer, who abolished serfdom, expelled Jesuits, dissolved most monasteries and granted civil equality to Jews. German, not Czech, was declared the sole official language. In 1787, Mozart conducted in Prague’s Nostitz Theatre the world premiere of Don Giovanni to enthusiastic reception. The 19th century was characterized by a rebirth of Slav national consciousness among Czech intelectuals. Industrial revolution (after 1820) transformed Bohemia into one of the most densely industrialized countries in Europe. The Pre-second-world-war Czechoslovakia (1918-1938) was ranked 11th in the world in the industrial input. After 40 years of communist rule, the nation’s economy was ranked 56th. In 1946, two-million Sudeten Germans were expelled from Czecholovakia under terms of the Potsdam agreement, parly as a retaliation for Hitler’s annexation of the Sudeten in 1938. The new Democratic Czech Republic (1993-present) has become a full-fledged member of the European Union in May 2004.

About Brevnov Abbey

This earliest abbey in Bohemia was founded by Benedictine friars in the Prague suburb of Brevnov in 993. According to a legend, the initiative came from the Bohemian Sovereign, Duke Boleslav II, after he met with the second Czech Bishop St. Adalbert (Vojtech) near a forest fountain. The fountain, called Vojteska, is still shown to visitors of the Abbey. Twenty years earlier, Benedictine nuns had commenced the construction of their convent of St. George in the Prague Castle, a twenty-minute walk from Brevnov. Thus Brevnov, being the oldest Abbey in Bohemia, is also the second oldest monastery in the country. A pre-Romanesque crypt underneath the Abbey represents the oldest fragment of Bohemian architecture in existence. It was discovered during archeological excavations in 1969. The crypt, richly decorated by stone half-columns, survives under the impressive Baroque compound that replaced the original buildings in 1708-1745. The chief points of interest are a lofty outer portal, built in 1740 by Christoph Dienzenhofer, decorated by a statue of St. Benedictine, and the church of St. Margaret. The church, also designed by the great Christoph Dienzenhofer, is formed as a junction of four elipsoidal cylinders. The interplay of concave and convex surfaces makes this a true architectural gem, one the most spectacular achievements of Dynamic Baroque. Inspiration by Italian work of Borromini and Quarini is sometimes invoked to place Dienzenhofer’s architecture in the European context. After Christoph‘s death in 1722, the presbytery of St. Margaret was added by the architect’s son Kilian Ignaz Dienzenhofer. The impressive ceiling frescos are a work of J. J. Steinfels from 1719-1722, while the wooden carved statues on the high altar and the confessionals are a masterpiece of M. W. Jackel (1718), an artist known by his stone statues decorating Charles Bridge in downtown Prague. Eight side altars are mostly painted on the walls and the highly-acclaimed Czech Baroque painter Peter Brandl converted them into a unique picture gallery of his own work. Brandl was the author of all eight large canvases decorating the altars (1716-1719). The 18th century reconstruction of the monastery and church was financed by the art-loving Abbots Tomas Sartorius and Otmar Zinke. The dedication to St. Margaret, a martyr for faith from the times of the Ancient Roman Emperor Diocletian, dates back to the 13th century, when part of her mortal remains was donated to the Brevnov Abey as a venerated relic. St. Margaret is evoked as the Patron Saint of farmers and good weather. AIG-6 will be held at the historical monks‘ quaters which include some stupendously decorated Baroque rooms. The lectures will take place in the Prelates‘ Hall, featuring a ceiling fresco by the Bavarian master Cosmas Damian Asam (1729) depicting the miracle of the Blessed Gunther. The lecture hall is also known under the name Theresian Hall, to commemorate a visit by Maria Theresia and her consort Franz von Lotringen in 1753. Their portraits hang above the mantelpiece. The building of the Prelature is another work by K. I. Dienzenhofer (1709-1720). The quiet garden and adjacent orchard behind the cloisters still resemble their predecessors from 1720. During the Communist years (1948-1989), the monastery was dissolved and part of the precinct was used as archives of the Secret Police. In one of these buildings opposite St. Margaret’s church, Hotel Adalbert was opened in 2003. The Benedictine friars have returned to the Abbey after 1989 from an exile in Bavaria.

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