For this first post of the year, I’m taking you to Prague, for a stroll through the city, from some very well known neighbourhoods to others that are less well known but worth the visit.

There is a great diversity of architectural movements and atmosphere, the walk will take three posts and so here is the first of them. I have not retained any chronological organisation, I have favoured wandering between various places and themes.

I start with what all visitors immediately perceive: the central place that the Vlatva River plays with the bridges that connect the different historical quarters and give us such beautiful perspectives on its banks.

This wide and quiet river in the centre of the city offers great opportunities for reflection, with the low winter light at the end of the day you can have the chance of a sunset over the old city.

In Prague in December, the night is present from mid-afternoon. For me, who rarely takes night photos, this is an opportunity to play around with light and shadow and to turn tourists into silhouettes. In the small streets, even in the central districts, it is very quiet after dark.

To finish this first walk, I have chosen some pictures of commercial passages dating from the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Rotunda, mirrors, chandeliers … a crazy charm.

See you next week for more discoveries, including cubist architecture.