Capital of Czech land - Prague
by Raimix
Prague is about 100 km from Plzen. City is capital of Czech Republic with a population of about 1,2 millions people. It is definitely the main tourist destination in Czech Republic and surely need a visit for at least a few days. Prague historic centre consist of six different parts – Old Town, Juzefov, Mala Strana, Visegrad, Hadcany, New Town.
St.Barbara Church
by globetrott
The St. Barbara Church of the monastery has a little window in the back gate, where you may have a look into the church and take a photo, without having to take a tour through the monastery.
For a tour you would have to ring the bell to the right of the church entrance !
More good Czech food
by King_Golo about K Restaurant
K Restaurant is another good place to get typical Czech food. The place also serves other types of food, some Indian dishes as well as Grusinian cuisine (from Georgia). Its great location and multilingual (Czech, German, English) staff make it a nice place for lunch or dinner. I had a Grusinian dish which was really good - meat sticks with onions and several other vegetables.
Plague column of St. Mary
by Raimix
St. Mary Plague column exist in Plzen town as well, at Square of Republic, near St. Bartholomew Cathedral (as I think, it is quite usual for Central Europe towns). The column was built in 1681. The reason of building it was thank giving for quite mild plague epidemic in 1680.
Top of plague column is adorned by copy of Madonna of Plzen statue that originally exist in town’s Cathedral.
St. Bartholomy - the interior
by globetrott
The altar shows the famous " Madonna of Plzen " , an early masterpiece of 1390, as one of the many statues . The altar itself was built in the 19th century and decorated with older statues.
There is also the so called "Sternberg-chapel" in the back of the church, as the Sternberg-family donated most of the money to build the church.