If it ain't Baroque, Baraque it.

Prague architecture is ridiculous.  It is fluffy and lacy and pastel and gilt and ridiculous.  In a word: it is Baroque.  Every time you turn around, there are pretty colors and decorated buildings.  It makes the city really fun to wander around.  My guide book said that Prague was a good city to get lost in and, while I was a little uncertain at first, it was absolutely right.  One of my favorite parts of the whole trip was walking around through the city, just going down whatever street seemed to have the prettiest buildings.

 

Apparently, the Baroque architecture of Prague and some of the surrounding areas, is noticeably distinct in character from the kind of Baroque architecture that you could find in Italy or Spain or the Netherlands.  This is because the trend developed later and under different artists (and perhaps with different levels of funding?).  Personally, I think that the cleaner, "classier", kind of Baroque that you see in Prague is pretty appealing.  The "Baroque-ization" of Prague happened at around the same time, as a municipal building project (applying Baroque facades to the existing Gothic buildings), apparently when they had a bunch of extra money lying around.

Some of the buildings incorporate Art Deco elements as well, just for fun, and there are 3-D elements and painted frescos on many of the walls.  

 

It's just ridiculous, isn't it?