Prague Castle is the largest ancient castle in the world. Not just a castle, but a huge complex of buildings-twelve in all. It was constructed in the 9th century by Prince Boøivoj and over the years different rulers made their own additions so there is a mixture of styles. It has had four major reconstructions, but it keeps its classical facelift it took on in the 18 century during the reign of Maria Theresa. It has three courtyards and it has always been the seat of Czech rulers as well as the official residence. A massive structure that is best viewed from the Charles Bridge at night-it stays lit until midnight.

You can wander around the grounds for free, but you have to pay to go inside the four main attractions. It only costs about $3 to do this. This could definitely take up an entire day-or two or three depending on how much time you want to devote to it.

The Prague Castle, the seat of the head of state, is probably the most popular of all tourist attractions in Prague. It sits on a hill top in the Castle district of Prague. The castle can be reached by subway - A line, Malostranska stop or by tram. I personally enjoyed taking a tram to the National Theatre, walking along the Vltava river and then crossing into the castle district via the Charles Bridge. You get beautiful views of the castle as you walk along the river.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, Prague Castle is the largest continuous castle in the world. It is made of a cluster of palaces and church buildings that date back to the 9th century. The buildings are of varied architecture - a stamp of the rulers who built them and of the dominant art forms of the times.

Admission is free to the castle grounds and to parts of the St Vitus Cathedral. To many of the main sights, you will need to purchase tickets. A must-see is the permanent exhibit "The Story of Prague Castle". The price of admission is 140 CK. It was my first introduction into Czech history. It details the origins of the Prague Castle and the Bohemian empire. You should give yourself atleast 2 hours to take in the exhibit and soak up all the information.

There are several gardens in the castle courtyard. The Garden on the Ramparts gives you some great views of Prague. The castle grounds stay open until midnight, but the buildings are open only till 5pm.

After exploring Praszky Hrad's grounds, Jaro, Maria, Ivan, and I made our way over to the Katredala Sv. Vita, better known in English as St. Vitus Cathedral, the HUGE Gothic cathedral located on Prague Castle's grounds and home to many of Bohemia royalty's final resting places.

Like the Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral has a long and storied history dating from its consecration in 925. The cathedral's name, St. Vitus was given by Duke Wenceslaus I because he had acquired the arm of St. Vitus, which is a holy relic. The original church was a small Romanesque church that handled the needs of the small Christian community in Prague.

In 1060, as the Catholic community of Prague increased, Prince Spythinev II decided it was time to build and even bigger church for his community. A bigger Romanesque basilica was built but not completed. St. Wenceslas's, the patron saint of Bohemian princes, tomb was at St. Vitus Cathedral and this was another reason to expand the cathedral.

The present-day Gothic Cathedral that you see when you visit St. Vitus Cathedral was completed on 21 November 1344 when Prague became and archbishopric, and the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles IV wanted St. Vitus to become a coronation church along with final resting place for Bohemian royalty. The extensive construction of the triple-naved bascilicas and flying butresses took hundreds of years to construct, and Charles IV only lived to see the Eastern part of the cathedral completed.

In the 18th Century after 400 years of construction (and you thought your house building took forever), due to not having that Black and Decker saw and lack of money to carry on the work, the cathedral was strated again, and the Baroque southern spire and great organ were completed. By the time the St. Wenceslas Jubilee came around in 1929, construction of St. Vitus Cathedral was complete after almost 600 years of delays and hard work. What you see today at St. Vitus is mostly the work done by Peter Parler and his sons in the late 14th and 15th centuries.

Jaro, Maria, Ivan, and I spent about an hour touring St. Vitus Cathedral's interior. It has a massive triple nave main hall complete with a gorgeous altar and several stained glass windows that date from the 18th-20th Centuries. The most known window is The Mucha Window by Alfons Mucha completed in the late-19th Century. The Rose Window over the main portal was completed by Frantisek Kysela from 1925-1927.

I am not religious and as a jack Catholic, I was impressed by this beautiful cathedral and felt a little spiritual touring St. Vitus, and I believe that you will feel that way, too.

St. Vitus Cathedral is open to the public daily and masses are held every Sunday, so don't tour the place during masses. The price to tour the Cathedral is included in the Castle tour, and it is well worth your time to check it out!

After trudging through the crowds on the Charles Bridge, Jaro, Maria, Ivan, and I headed up the steep hill to Hradcany, which is home to Praszky Hrad (Prague Castle) to see one of the most beautiful castle and grounds in Europe.

Praszky Hrad dates from 870 when the Church of Our Lady became the first building on the grounds. St. Vitus was founded a century later, but the actual cathedral wasn't built until the 14th Century. Praszky Hrad was not occupied by any royal families during the Hussite Wars of the 15th Century, and after the wars were over in 1485, King Ladislaus II Jagello began to rebuild the castle in Gothic form along with two defense towers to protect the castle from future attacks.

But all of King Ladislaus II's hard work was destroyed during a big fire in 1541, and after Ladislaus's death, the Castle came under Hapsburg rule starting with King Ferdinand, who built the Belvedere, a summer home for his wife Anna. After Ferdinand, came Rudolf, who used Prague Castle as his main home and the Spanish Hall was founded during his reign which housed Rudolf's extensive art collection.

In 1618, the Bohemian Revolt began, and The 30 Years War wreaked havoc on Bohemia, Prague, and The Castle that culminated in Swedish troops looting Prague Castle in 1648. Praszky Hrad went under its final renovation in the mid to late 18th Century during the reign of Empress Maria Theresia. After Maria Theresia's reign, the castle became home to Ferdinand V after his 1848 abdication and after the fall of the Hapsburg Empire in 1918, Praszky Hrad became home to the President of the new Czechoslovakia. It was during this time, Praszky Hrad's gardens and New Royal Palace went under another renovation.

During World War II, Czechoslovakia and Prague were occupied by the Germans, and Praszky Hrad became the home for "The Hangman of Bohemia and Moravia", Reinhard Heydrich and his family. Heydrich upset all Czechs by supposedly putting the Bohemian crown on his head and called himself King. It probably signed his death warrant for on 27 May 1942, Heydrich and his driver were ambushed by Czech and Slovak resistance fighters parachuted into Czechoslovakia from England while driving from Hradcany to SD Headquarters. He died a week later from his injuries, and the village of Lidice was destroyed in retaliation by the Nazis.

After World War II, Prazsky Hrad became the home for the Communist government for 40 years and after the Velvet Revolution and Divorce, the Castle became the seat for the head of the government of the Czech Republic, and Vaclav Havel had the many painting in the Castle restored.

There is a small fee to get into the castle and grounds, but we didn't tour the inside of the Castle. Unfortunately, my friends wanted to do the "Mario Andretti Tour" of Prague, and we only stayed here one day. I hope to return here some day soon and really enjoy this beautiful Castle.

Perched high on a hilltop, Prague Castle has been the area's seat of power for hundreds of years.

We wanted to see the changing of the guard at noon, so we found seats on the steps of a building opposite the first courtyard where we could clearly see two sentries at their posts. In blue uniforms, they stand in the shadows of the Battling Titans, two giant statues engaged in battle on the gate piers.

We were able to watch a small company of guards march through those gates to the sounds of a brass band and go through the formalities of saluting and nodding that all guards do when they change positions.

It's my understanding that the changing of the guard is not quite as elaborate at other hours of the day, but I can't speak to this. The whole affair was less than twenty minutes long, and we enjoyed watching it. Then we followed the flow of the rest of the crowd into the palace grounds.

Keep in mind you can walk through most of the grounds for free, but we wanted to see everything available, so we bought a family ticket for 500 K, (around $25) that gave us access to all the sites on offer. The best thing about this ticket was that it was valid for two days so we weren't rushed. We also rented audio wands to serve as our tour guides. These were almost as expensive as our entry ticket, but they allowed us the freedom of controlling our time while still learning about what we were seeing. We used the wands for the minimum rental time (2 hours), which got us through all of the St. Vitus Cathedral, the site where crowds will press the hardest.

Queues were almost always lined up to go inside the Gothic church, so I'd advise getting here as early as you can to make your visit less chaotic. Still, you must see the church. The stained-glass windows are absolutely amazing. Our tour-wands explained the significance of the various crypts including the silver tomb of St. John of Nepomuk whose statue figures large on the Charles Bridge.

Since it was a clear day, we were allowed entry to the bell tower as well... though only go up this winding staircase if you're up for a long climb. Kids will enjoy counting the many steps...

Apart from the church, you'll want to see Golden Lane, a collection of shops that require an entry ticket. Here, our son was able to shoot a crossbow! This was a definite highlight for him. Go to Golden Lane early because it gets stiflingly crowded.

Other attractions in the complex like the Old Palace will have fewer crowds and are worth a wander. The art in the Picture Gallery is far superior to the other art museum.

If you're into classical music, you might want to visit the Lobkovicky Palace (for an extra charge) with its original Beethoven manuscripts.