Founded in the latter part of the 9th century, Prague soon became the seat of the kings of Bohemia, some of whom later reigned also as emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. The city flourished during the 14th century reign of Charles IV, who ordered the building of the New City, the Charles Bridge, Saint Vitus Cathedral, the oldest gothic cathedral in central Europe and actually inside the Castle, and the Charles University, the oldest university in central Europe north of the Alps. Prague was then the third-largest city in Europe.
View over Prague from the Klementinum tower, where a meteorological and astronomical observatory was located.
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View over Prague from the Klementinum tower, where a meteorological and astronomical observatory was located.
The four independent boroughs that had formerly constituted Prague were eventually proclaimed a single city in 1784. Those four cities were Hradčany (the Castle District, west and north of the Castle), Malá Strana (the Lesser Town, south of the Castle), Staré Město (the Old Town, on the east bank opposite the Castle) and Nové Město (the New Town, further south and east). The city underwent further expansion with the annexation of Josefov in 1850 and Vyšehrad in 1883, and at the beginning of 1922, another 37 municipalities were incorporated, raising the city\'s population to 676,000. Most of the city\'s 50,000 Jews died in the Nazi genocide of World War II.
Prague suffered from serious flooding in August 2002, with parts of the city having to be evacuated. The floods caused a lot of damage, but fortunately no major landmarks (such as the Charles Bridge) were destroyed. Affected parts of the city (including the subway system with more than 15 stations disabled) were being under intensive repairs during the two subsequent years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prague