Three apparitions haunt the same area near the start of the Royal Route
The area around the square called náměstí Republiky marks the start of the old Royal Route that leads all the way to Prague Castle. A tower that marks the division of Old Town from New Town still stands there. Just outside the Powder Tower, on the New Town side, there are several ghosts: two separate riders of three-legged horses and a cursed miller with a carriage.
One of the scariest ghosts in Prague is also the most mysterious. A headless knight appears on a black three-legged stallion, and they ride like the wind around the square, with sparks flying from the horse’s hooves, similar to those seen from a blacksmith’s anvil. And just as suddenly as they appear, they vanish.
These wounds seem not to be the work of an angry rival in love, but more like results from fierce battle. But what war, and what side he fought on is unknown.
He tends to ride in front of a shopping mall on the square that is in a building that used to be a barracks. The barracks opened in the late 18th century, which is a little late for knights in armor, so the mystery remains.
Another dominant feature of the square is the Hybernia Theater (Divadlo Hybernia). It is a former college and monastery that was run by Irish Franciscans from 1629, during the Thirty Years’ War, to 1786, when Emperor Joseph II abolished it with his sweeping religious reforms. The massive structure was long abandoned.
After the building was fully renovated and reopened recently as a theater, he has not been seen. Perhaps the well-dressed crowds of theatergoers made him self-conscious of his scruffy appearance.
Like his faster headless counterpart, his origin is a mystery.
Flames shoot out from the horses’ nostrils, and the reins turn into venomous snakes. The earth rumbles with loud noises. The miller cannot stop his cart, and it goes into the open pit with its horses and driver. The earth quickly seals up as if nothing happened, leaving people to question what they saw.
He has not appeared in many years, though. The city has become too modern and touristy for him, and the route is so full of people, even at night, that is is hard to navigate.
Background
The rather similar tales of riders on three-legged horses likely began as one tale, but which is the original is hard to say.
After the Thirty Years’ War, Bohemia had close ties to Catholic Spain, which was also under the sway of the Habsburgs. The famed Infant of Prague, still on display at the Church of Our Lady Victorious, is supposed to have originated in Spain, and was given to the church by Princess Polyxena of Lobkowicz, who advocated strong ties between the countries.
A Spanish knight figures into one of the tales associated with the House at the Golden Well.
Millers also figure into several Czech ghost legends, such as one about a miller’s daughter who wanted to marry above her class and another about a miller who ate turkey on a religious fast day. The turkey returns as a flaming ghost in front of the former mill. Both these tales take place on Kampa island, which has a stream with disused mill wheels.
Náměstí Republiky, or Republic Square, dates back to the founding of New Town by emperor Charles IV in 1348. It has had several names including náměstí Františka Josefa I., Hybernské náměstí, Kapucínské náměstí and Josefské náměstí. It has been called by its current name since the founding of Czechoslovakia in 1918, except for a brief time during World War II when it was Hybernské náměstí.
The Irish Franciscan monastery gives the place the name Hybernia, a variation of the Latin word for Ireland.
The Irish Franciscans wound up in Prague after being banished by Queen Elizabeth I from their homeland. They established the College of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary at what is now Divadlo Hybernia.
The barracks on the square opened in 1795 as the Joseph Barracks (Josefské kasárny) and were renamed the George of Poděbrady Barracks (Kasárny Jiřího z Poděbrad) in 1919 after the end of Habsburg rule. It was closed officially in 1993 and sold off. After an extensive renovation including an archaeological survey, it opened as a shopping mall called Palladium in 2007.
The survey showed the square was occupied as early as the 12th century with stone and wooden buildings. Later there were kilns on the site. A medieval gold ring was also found.
Another important building on the square is the Municipal House (Obecní dům), notable not only for its rich Art Nouveau decor, but also for its historical significance as the place where Czechoslovak independence was proclaimed in 1918. It was built between 1905 and 1912 on the site of the former Royal Palace, which had been unused since the 15th century and was in ruins.
The Powder Tower is one of the last remaining medieval gates in the city, built in 1475 and used for storing gunpowder. Its current look is from a heavy-handed renovation in the late 19th century.
The Emperor card in the Major Arcana of The Tarot of Prague uses a figure of a king from the facade of the Powder Gate. An image from Obecní dům can be found on the Empress card.
Main image: Holiday videomapping at the shopping mall in the former barracks, photo by the author
An article by Baba Studio with Raymond Johnston. Copyright Baba Studio, all rights reserved. Please contact us if you would like to syndicate or otherwise use this article.