How satisfying is that?
What’s crazy is, with the addition of the music, it seems so joyful. Yet, when considering the amount of time, effort, man-power, and environmental factors (rain, cold, ice, ect), I cannot imagine how the laborours endured. Or the plans.
The bridge constructed is the real-life Charles Bridge in Prague, which took several decades to build!
This, From Amusing Planet, helps put the construction into some perspective.
Construction of the Charles Bridge started in 1357, under the auspices of King Charles IV, but it was not completed until the beginning of the 15th century. The bridge has 16 arches and 15 pillars, each shielded by ice guards. It’s 512 meters long and nearly 10 meters wide. The balustrade is decorated with 30 statues and statuaries depicting various saints and patron saints, although these were erected much later, between 1683 and 1714. To preserve these statues, they were replaced with replicas during the 1960s. The originals are at Prague’s National Museum.
Until the middle of the 19th century, the Charles Bridge was the only crossing on river Vltava, which made the bridge an important connection between Prague Castle and the city’s Old Town and adjacent areas.
As the only crossing, I can imagine it garnered it’s fair share of wages. Which is why, I think, this construction is so interesting. Because King Charles the IV would never see its completion, yet he deemed it worthy to build. And so did everyone else who followed.
In our current political climate, can you imagine a string of leaders who take up the ideas and plans of the president prior?
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