The Castle Home: Old Town Square - Astronomical Clock, Prague

We did the bare minimum in Prague's 10th-century Old Town (Stare Mesto). We walked around the square, sampled some trdlo's, fried potato chips and meat pies from the Christmas market, which runs through early January. Of course we joined the crowd to watch the Astronomical clock at the top of the hour.

Luckily there will plenty for us to do next time we visit Prague's Old Town.... climb to the top of the clock tower for a bird's eye view of Stare Mesto, visit the Tyn courtyard and Church of Our Lady Before Tyn, Kinsky palace, House at the Stone Bell, Church of St. Nicholas (not to be confused with St. Nicholas Church in Mala Strana!).

What amazed us is the constant crowd of tourists everywhere (yes, that includes us).

Eastern tower on the Charles Bridge marking the beginning of Old Town (Stare Mesto)

Church of Our Lady before Tyn - named because of the Tyn courtyard behind it (very logical... or unimaginative!)

Old Town square (namesti) with Christmas markets through early January

Since 1490, every hour on the hour crowds gather to watch the 45 second parade of Apostles strike the hour on the Astronomical Clock (or 'nominal' clock as Sofia calls it). Yes, the parade of Apostles in underwhelming (a perfect description from the guide book) but you just have to find that out for yourself... besides, it's not a huge time investment and it's free!

Surrounding the clock are four figures: vanity, greed, death and pagan invasion - representing the anxieties of 15th century Prague residents. The girls declared the parading Apostle and the figures of the four anxieties 'creepy'.

huge crowds gather every hour to watch the display at the top of every hour

The center of the clock depicts the world in 1490, with Prague at the center. The gold sun traces a circle through the blue of day, the brown of dusk, the black of night and dawn. From this the hours of sunrise and sunset can be read.

The sun arm points to the hour on the Roman-numerical ring; the top XII is noon and the bottom XII is midnight. The outer ring with Gothic numerals, reads traditional 24-hour Bohemian time.

The moon, with its phases, also traces a path through the zones of day and night, riding on the offset moving ring. You can also read which houses of the zodiac the sun and moon are in.

(adapted from the Lonely Planet Prague guide)

The calendar wheel, with 12 seasonal scenes celebrating rural Bohemian life. Most of the dates around the calendar wheel are marked with the names of their associated saints.