Mid-Congress Excursions
The Congress will offer the exciting opportunity to experience some of the cultural and social life of Prague, and to see the sights of the city and its environs.
Afternoon Excursions
Wednesday 20 July 2011 from 14:00
Meeting Point:
Portico of the Faculty of Arts (Congress Venue)
Jana Palacha 2, Prague 1
1. Edmund Campion, Sir Philip Sidney and the Prague Jesuit College
Visiting the Prague Jesuit College, the Klementinum (built 1556-1722): the Mirror Chapel of Virgin Mary (after 1720) with Baroque frescoes and altar paintings, the Observatory Tower (1722) and the Baroque Reading Room (1722) with a fresco of Edmund Campion, who was a Professor of Rhetoric at the Klementinum and founded there the Congregation of Virgin Mary in 1575. He met Sir Philip Sidney during his two visits in Prague in the latter 1570s.
Duration: approximately 2 hours; walking tour (1 km)
The price EUR 14 includes an academic guide and admission fee.
2. Last Years of Edward Kelley: Imprisonment at Křivoklát Castle
Visiting an old royal castle of Křivoklát (Bürglitz, Pürglitz), founded in the 13th century and located in picturesque woodland about 50 km west of Prague. Sightseeing of the castle (including the Royal Hall, the Knights’ Hall, the Chapel, library, museum, prison and the dungeon in the Great Tower) will trace the story of the last years of Rudolf II’s alchemist. Kelley was imprisoned at Křivoklát in 1591, when he failed to make the promised alchemical discoveries and killed a courtier Georg Hunkler in a prohibited combat. In return for his release, the Emperor demanded a tincture for the production of gold from base materials and other alchemical recipes. He refused to set Kelley free even after the intervention of Elizabeth I. As a result, Kelley attempted to escape but was seriously wounded and lost his leg. Although subsequently released from Křivoklát, he was again imprisoned for his debts in the Castle of Most (Brux). Here he committed suicide in 1597, after another unsuccessful escape.
Duration: approximately 5 hours including the sightseeing.
The price EUR 43 includes a coach transfer, an academic guide and admission fee.
3. Prague of Rudolph II and Frederick Palatine
Visiting locations in the Prague Castle connected with the reign of Rudolf II and places linked with the outburst and the defeat of the rebellion of the Czech estates against the Habsburg rule (1618-20), which marked the beginning of the most destructive early modern military conflict, the Thirty Years’ War (1618-48). The war started by the defenestration of two Imperial Regents, Count Vilém Slavata and Count Jaroslav Martinitz, and their secretary from the office of the Old Royal Palace in the Prague Castle. The decisive battle was fought at White Mountain (Bílá Hora) on 8 November 1620 and the leaders of the rebellion were executed on 21 June 1621. Apart from the Prague Castle, participants will visit the battlefield at White Mountain and the place of the leaders execution in the Old Town Square.
Duration: approximately 4 hours including the sightseeing.
The price EUR 38 includes a coach transfer, an academic guide and admission fees.
