EU Capital Cities

This year the Polish Post has prepared a fourth edition of the "EU Capital Cities" series issued since 2005. The stamps are accompanied by five first day envelopes FDC and one anniversary date stamp, used in Warsaw 1 Postal Office. By now we have seen representative buildings of Budapest, Berlin, Dublin, Lisbon, London, Ljubljana, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Riga, Rome, Stockholm, Tallinn, Valetta and Vilnius.

Prague - the Charles Bridge

Famous for the beautiful architecture Czech capital was established upon the joining of two cities of the early Middle Ages: Hradčany and Vyšehrad. The representative for ages seat of the Czech rulers was handed over in the 16th century to the house of Habsburg, and at the same time to be dominated by Vienna. Only the so called Czech National Revival in the 19th century restored the city's previous character. Prague was again the capital city in 1918 upon the creation of Czechoslovakia. In 1993 after the split of Czechoslovakia, the city became the capital city of the Czech Republic.

The Charles Bridge (by 2nd half of the 19 century called the Stone Bridge or the Prague Bridge) connects two districts: Malá Strana and Staré Mesto. It is 515 meters long and approximately 9.5 meters wide. It was built in the 14th century (replaced the 12th century Judith Bridge destroyed by flood), by 1741 was the only bridge on the Vltava river. Its Gothic character has been emphasised by the towers protecting the bridge. The famous 30 statues of saints were added only in the times of baroque.

Stamp Issue: 2008-10-24
number 4246