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Stories Behind These 10 WTF Photos That Prove Prague Is Weirder Than Japan

When you think of a country that’s weird, one of the first that pops up would probably be Japan.

How could you not when they’re known to have annual festivals dedicated to male genitalia and vending machines with used panties?

But in the depths of Europe, there actually lies another country that could be a major contender to the title of “weirdest”. And when I say weird, I mean the “Am I having a nightmare or is this reality?” sort of weird

Let’s take a little tour down the streets of Prague, where citizens are used to seeing strange sights and the strange stories that accompany it, and you can judge for yourself if the title is deserved.

1) Giant Babies

Image Credit: thewanderingwanderluster.com

Babies are generally adored, and most people would consider them cute. However, these baby sculptures in Prague aren’t the norm.

10 giant babies can be spotted crawling up Prague’s largest tower, the Zizkov Television Tower. The babies symbolise those unable to reach adulthood during the communist era, their growth stifled by this landmark of dictatorship.

Image Credit: Mike Tonge @ flickr.com

If for some reason you’d want a closer look, there are also bronze versions of these babies on the grounds of Kampa Museum.

2) Memorial of the Communism Victims

Image Credit: jason livesey on flickr.com

The Memorial of the Communism Victims is a series of statues located at the base of Petrin Hill and was unveiled in 2002, 12 years after the fall of communism.

Image Credit: simplysaratravel.com

It shows 7 bronze figures descending down a flight of stairs where they appear to be more “decayed” the further they are from you. Some of them have lost limbs while others have their bodies breaking open, symbolising the political prisoners affected by the communism.

3) Dripstone Wall

Image Credit: @V!ckie on flickr.com

Inside Wallenstein Palace’s massive gardens is an area known as “The Grotto”, said to have an eerily unreal landscape. Part of that includes a creepy decor known as the Dripstone Wall.

Image Credit: @kg8831 on flickr.com

Upon closer investigation, you can see that the wall is made from a haunting assemblage of stalactite-like rocks.

The signboards around mention that if you stare hard enough, you can make out human and animal faces peering out from within the wall’s recesses.

For mystery seekers, there’s said to be secret passageways in the Dripstone Wall but no one has managed to find a way in even after 500 years.

4) Trifot

Image Credit: Piotrek Gawlinski on twitter.com

If you’re near the Nové Butovice metro station, be mindful of what you’re doing.

Prominently displayed, a giant robot named Trifot has eyeballs that move around and they’re not just decorative. The 40-foot-tall statue’s bulging eyes swivel about independently, watching passersby.

If caught, you might just find yourself broadcast onto one of six monitors in the area.

Can you see its eyes slowly moving?

The sculpture is said to be built in reference to a George Orwell novel titled 1984, set in a dystopian future of unchecked government surveillance. Trifot also references the terrifying alien technology in H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds.

However, the artist behind this sculpture simply states it’s meant to honor the observational art of photography, although those passing by might have different opinions.

5) Museum Of Toilets

Image Credit: dailydot.com

Here’s a worthy addition to unusual museums around the world. You can probably guess what you’ll see at the Museum of Historical Chamber Pots and Toilets..

The collection includes about 2,000 pieces and is the largest of its kind in the world.

Apparently, the aim of the exhibition is to present the artistic and utilitarian level of the objects themselves while showing the history of human waste disposal.

Image Credit: prague.eu

Among some of the unique items in the collection are chamber pots made for Napoleon Bonaparte, the Titanic, the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House.

Just don’t give the displays a try while you’re there. That’s not what they’re for anymore.

6) Quo Vadis

Image Credit: lonelyplanet.com

The Quo Vadis is a tribute to the 4,000 East Germans who travelled to the West German embassy in Prague to seek asylum in 1989.

They had to leave their cars behind as they fled to the west.

Image Credit: @koalie on flickr.com

The sculpture made its first appearance in 1991 in the city’s old town square. Now it is a permanent fixture in the garden of Prague’s Federal German Republic Embassy.

7) Prague Astronomical Clock

Image Credit: czechtourism.com

If you’re a fan of the Brothers Grimm, you’d agree that the Astronomical Clock seems like it came from their imagination.

The legend says that it was created by an extraordinary inventor who got blinded by the Prague Councilors so no other nation could have a better clock. He took his own life by throwing himself into the astronomical clock as revenge.

Image Credit: czechtourism.com

It is one of the most well-known astronomical clocks in the world and with good reason. It has four moving automatons, rotating statues of the 12 apostles, and shows the moon’s phases and the sun’s journey through the constellations of the zodiac.

8) Café Louvre

Image Credit: cafelouvre.cz

Back in the day, cafes were literary landmarks in Prague. One of the popular ones was Cafe Louvre, which first opened in 1902.

Iconic people such as Franz Kafka and Albert Einstein frequented the café as it made a great meeting place for academicians to mingle.

Image Credit: cremamagazine.com.au

It was the first electrified café, transitioning away from candles to electric bulbs, and was also the first to offer a salon for women to meet up. The café reopened in 1992 and has since been popular with locals and visitors.

9) Speculum Alchemiae

Image Credit: der-schawrze-planet.de

The center of Prague houses a library hiding an underground laboratory which was re-discovered after a massive flood in 2002.

The lab gives a little preview of Prague’s occult history where experiments were conducted and were hidden from the eyes of authorities back in the day.

There, you’d find crucibles used to turn lead into gold, a mummified crocodile, and a tunnel that offers a safe escape in the woods out of the city.

10) Sedlec Ossuary

Image Credit: Kate and Jake @ flickr.com

A.K.A, the Bone Church.

In Kutna Hora lies a small chapel that is adorned with skeletons of between 40,000 and 70,000 people. They are artistically arranged to form decorations and furnishings.

Image Credit: kevinandamanda.com

700 years ago, the head of the Sedlec monastery made the cemetery a desirable burial site through a religious holy act. During the peak of the plague in the mid-1300s, approximately thousands of people were buried there.

When a Gothic church was built in 1400, thousands of exhumed bones were stacked in the middle of the chapel during construction. They were left there until 1870 when artist Frantisek Rint was hired to put the bones in order, resulting in the chapel you see today.

Experience These Unique Attractions Yourself

Now you can probably agree with us that Prague is a rather eccentric country, and there are more bizarre attractions we didn’t include in here.

So here’s how you can go there and see them all yourself.

Known as the second biggest airline in China and headquartered in Shanghai, China Eastern owns 610 aircraft and has recently celebrated their 60th anniversary in 2016.

Being a member of Skyteam, they fly to over 1052 destination in 177 countries, and now Malaysians have the option to fly to Prague with fares starting from RM888 (excluding taxes)!

You can find out more information about the flights here or contact the China Eastern Airlines Kuala Lumpur Sales office at 03-21611666.

This article was written in collaboration with China Eastern Airlines.

Feature Image Credit: daudio marchini @ flickr.com

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