Any excuse is a good excuse to make another visit to Prague, to take another sightseeing tour in the Czech capital.
My most recent excuse for a guided tour of selected highlights — and a few things the casual visitor never heard of — was the publication of a book, “The Secret of Secrets,” by Dan Brown.
The book is at heart a whodunit but with a classy veneer delivered by two overachieving lead characters (Robert Langdon and Katherine Solomon) very good at deciphering the most esoteric clues while escaping capture by enemies, known and unknown.
And where does this play out? In historically important sites, like the Old Town Square, the Jewish Quarter, St. Vitas Cathedral and one of the most gorgeous libraries you’ll ever see, as well as in the city’s luxurious Four Seasons Hotel, local hangouts and shadowy underground spaces.
St. Vitus Cathedral, rising amidst buildings that are part of the Prague Castle complex.
A whodunit + a guided tour
This spring, I joined travel agents and press in Prague for the annual Czech trade fair. Associated activities included the short version of a walking tour built around the locations that feature in Brown’s book, as follows:
• Baroque Library Hall, located in a former Jesuit college called the Clementinum. The 18th century library accommodates 20,000-plus books and several sizable globes in a single large room, with a barrel ceiling covered in frescoes. The library is accessible by climbing 30 to 40 steps of a tight circular staircase to an anteroom from which we could view but not enter the library.
The 18th century Baroque Library Hall, in Prague’s Clementinum complex of buildings. In Dan Brown’s book, “The Secret of Secrets,” his main characters use the library as a hideout — and seem ready to set it on fire.
We didn’t see anyone in the library, but it is a real research facility — and, in the Brown book, our main characters use it as a rendezvous site and hideout. In reality, it would be hard to do that but, by choosing such great settings, Brown has the chance to be a bit of a tour guide himself. In “The Secret of Secrets,” he does quite a bit of that.
• Old Town Square, starting under the astronomical clock seen on the Old Town Hall. The clock doesn’t play a specific role in Brown’s book but no one can visit the heart of Prague without stopping by.
Above, a portion of Prague’s Old Town Square. The clock in the tower at right is perhaps the best known feature of the large square. Below, a closer look at the astronomical clock.
Besides, from this spot, our guide pointed out the location of the Black Angel’s Bar, a somewhat hidden site in a cellar beneath Old Town, a discreet meeting place for the book’s characters. Black Angel’s opens in the late afternoon and stays that way into the wee hours (5 p.m. to 3 a.m. daily). We were walking around in the morning so that was a miss for us — which was too bad. At the bar’s website, we are told Black Angel’s is Brown’s all-time favorite bar, meaning in the world.
But, from here, our guide led us beyond the Old Town Square through the narrow winding streets typical of the area — and where one of the book’s central characters, identified as The Golem, lives and where some significant segments of the story play out. Brown does not give an address but he does mention specific landmarks that the character passes en route home. Amusingly, one such landmark is the Sex Museum. We passed that way, too.
At upper right, a bright red sign promoting Prague’s Sex Museum. Dan Brown’s character known as The Golem is described as walking briskly past this point while en route to a home tucked in among the narrow streets found in the area around the Old Town Square.
• Charles Bridge, from the 14th century, now for pedestrians only. It connects Old Town with a neighborhood called Lesser Town which in turn sits just below Castle Hill.
Above, Prague’s 14th century Charles Bridge, which connects Old Town with Lesser Town just below Castle Hill. The bridge is the setting for an early dramatic event in Dan Brown’s book, “The Secret of Secrets.” Below, walkers on the pedestrian-only Charles Bridge.
It is on this bridge that the book’s central figure and narrator, Langdon, sees an oddly dressed woman who, for a bunch of complicated reasons, makes him think the Four Seasons Hotel (where he is staying) is about to be bombed. So, he runs from the bridge to his hotel, then to his suite to find his lover (she’s not there) then, expecting an explosion, jumps from the suite into the Vltava River. A reality check: Our guide said no one could jump from that hotel into the river. The jumper would land somewhere less comfortable. But then, “The Secret of Secrets” IS fiction.
• Jewish Quarter, with special attention to the Old Jewish Cemetery and the Old New Synagogue. The cemetery operated from the 15th to 18th centuries and, due to space limitations inside the Jewish Ghetto, bodies were buried on top of one another, three to five layers deep. The nearby (everything is nearby in the Ghetto) Old New Synagogue, which is still active, dates from the end of the 13th century.
Tombstones, crowded with many tilted heater skelter, in the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague. Operational from the 15th to 18th centuries, the cemetery accommodated burials three to five deep.
In “The Secret of Secrets,” the character known as The Golem pays homage at the burial site of the rabbi he credits with creating the golem legend, Rabbi Yehudah Loew (d.1609). The golem of the legend is a faceless creature who provides help or protection, usually in the household; the book’s character is also a protector but the focus is outside the home.
The longer Dan Brown tour visits the interior of the Old New Synagogue where allegedly the original golem is buried in the attic. Forgetting that the golem is a mythical character, our guide noted that the only access to the attic is via exterior metal footholds with no railing. It’s unlikely any kind of body was carried via that route.
Above, exterior of the small, very old (from the 13th century) and still-active Old New Synagogue in Prague’s historical Jewish Quarter. Below, the exterior metal footholds that provide the only access to the synagogue’s attic. Their relevance came up while sightseeing at locations related to “The Secret of Secrets.”
I read “The Secret of Secrets” but do not remember that this was discussed in the book; never mind: — as with anything on this itinerary, it’s all worth a visit regardless.
Across the Vltava
• Castle Hill, with special attention to St. Vitas Cathedral and Vladislav Hall inside the Prague Castle grounds; also, the U.S. Embassy in Lesser Town below Castle Hill. These are across the Vltava River from the other places listed above.
Entrance to the Prague Castle grounds, which gives access to St. Vitas Cathedral and the castle’s Vladislav Hall.
In the book, the character Langdon ruminates about having shown the cathedral to his partner Solomon, and, early in the story, Solomon delivers a lecture at Vladislav Hall. Thus, the story covers more turf in the city; intentionally or not, these add opportunities to describe the destination. And Brown takes his opportunity.
Above, the south exterior of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague. Below, a closer look at the cathedral’s south exterior.
The 16th century Vladislav Hall, part of the Prague Castle. It has been used for a wide array of events from its first days to the present.
Our tour did not include these sites, but a more extensive itinerary would take in both sides of the Vltava. In fact, it seems to me, a walking tour would start at the highest point because it is easier to walk down from Castle Hill, into Lesser Town, then to Charles Bridge and across to the Old Town Square. I have taken such walks and they are very doable and rewarding.
A side note: I have never seen the embassy, which is where Brown’s story wraps up. I presume the embassy could be on a walking route when heading down through Lesser Town.
Parts of the Prague Castle complex, including St. Vitus Cathedral, at left, overlooking at center the rooftops of Prague’s Lesser Town. Bits of the Vltava River are visible in the background. Visitors can walk from the complex via Lesser Town to the Charles Bridge and beyond.
Bottom line: Brown’s book is an entertaining, convoluted, farfetched and high-IQ murder mystery — and a love letter to Prague.
For more information about Prague, we offer at BestTripChoices.com the following, under the headline, From Palaces to Puppets at https://besttripchoices.com/prague-czech-republic/. This blog and its photos are by Nadine Godwin, BestTripChoices.com editorial director and contributor to the trade newspaper, Travel Weekly. She also is the author of “Travia: The Ultimate Book of Travel Trivia.”