On a gray, drizzly morning we began our sightseeing on Castle Hill at the the Basilica of Our Lady, part of the Strahov Monastery.

A large library is also a part of the complex there.

A view of the Church of the Nativity of our Lord, part of the Loreto, which became a pilgrimage site because the area also contains a copy of the Santa Casa, supposedly the house where Virgin Mary was told that she will give birth to Jesus. THere is more information on this at this site.

    
This building is interesting in that it shows how homes were identified before the time of house numbers. Before it acquired the house number 1, it was known as the House of St. Luke because of the mural over the door.

One of a number of houses we would see with sgraffito decoration. Sgraffito is a technique produced by applying layers of plaster tinted in contrasting colors and then scratching the upper layer to produce a line in the underlying color.

A more extensive example of sgraffito on the Schwarzenberg Palace, built in 1657.

A closeup of this sgraffito.

The Archbishop's Palace.

A panoramic shot of part of the city below us.

The Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in the courtyard of the Palace.

      
The changing of the guard at the Palace.

The front of St. Vitus's Cathedral with its rose window. St. Vitus's Cathedral is the cathedral of Prague, Czech Republic, and the seat of the Archbishop of Prague. The full name of the cathedral is St. Vitus, St. Wenceslas and St. Adalbert Cathedral. Located within Prague Castle and containing the tombs of many Bohemian kings, this cathedral is an excellent example of Gothic architecture and is the biggest and most important church in the country.

The front entrance with part of the long line of people waiting to enter.

The uncompleted Gothic main tower was finished as baroque

Just above the Golden Portal there is the 14th century Venetian art masterpiece, a mosaic of the Last Judgement polished with gold.

After the morning of sightseeing, we returned to the hotel for a short rest before taking the optional trip to the Sychrov Castle. Tomorrow we will do more sightseeing in Prague.