Charles Bridge is the oldest masonry bridge in the Eastern Europe and the first to cross the Vltava River. It was named Stone Bridge in the beginning until it was renamed after King Charles IV in 1870. We can still see Charles Bridge today thanks to very minimal bombing on Prague during the man-made disaster of World War II.
The bridge is guarded by three towers. The tower on the eastern end or Old Town is a very beautiful gothic-style structure. It is probably the most photographed bridge tower in Czech Republic.
The other two towers flank the western end or Lesser Quarter. They are also very beautiful structures but are always dwarfed by the tower on Old Town at the eastern end of the bridge.
The bridge is closed to wheeled traffic. However, the two-legged traffic on the bridge is also very heavy during day time, with army of tourists marching across the bridge and vendors lining the parapet walls.
