Shrine of Eternal Flame

This shrine to the Virgin Mary is known by many names, Shrine of the eternal flame, the Virgin Mary by the bridge. The owner of this private home František Pelzl, says he found the picture floating on the canal during a major flood in 1784. He was in his boat trying to help his neighbors As soon as he fished it out of the water, the water immediately began to recede and his house and most of the island were saved from flooding. He put the painting up outside the tiny attic balcony where the waters could never reach it. Next to her faded picture are two rollers from an old washing machine, flower boxes and a perpetually lit lantern with candle. Few people have ever seen who keeps the light burning, but it almost always is lit. Looking at the shrine involves a bit of risk. The rumor is if when you look at it, if you see the candle burn out, then you will soon die. But the story doesn’t end there. The two rollers are the result of a young woman named Maria who was working in the house courtyard doing laundry. She was wringing out the clothes in an old fashioned washing machine known as a mangler. She got her hand caught in it. Usually, people who got caught in the machine wound up losing a hand, or getting it mangled as they used to say. She was terrified at the thought. Her mind turned to the painting on the attic balcony. She wished that the icon would protect her hand. Just then the machine snapped open, even though it had no design features to allow for this to happen. Maria pulled her hand out, and it wasn’t even scratched. The rollers from the mangler were placed next to the painting after that. The shrine at the balcony is a popular with tour guides, and sometimes people can be seen making a wish.

The famous Renaissance house "At the Picture of the Virgin Mary" is one of the Lesser Town symbols. It was first mentioned in a contract of sale dated February 8, 1657, when a burgher married couple bought this house, severely damaged by the Swedes in the battle for Charles Bridge. It underwent extensive reconstruction only in the third quarter of the 18th century, further expansion in Baroque and late Classicism followed - these gave the house its current appearance. On the facade there is a commemorative plaque of the painter Adolf Kašpar. The cellars are arched by barrel vaults. On the gable of the older part facing the Charles Bridge there is an iconic balcony, on whose ornamental iron railing "eternal light" shines. Above that a picture of the Virgin Mary hangs, which has been here since the flood of 1784. The painting has rollers on the sides, to which is said that when there was a laundry with an almond in the house, one of the maids accidentally put her hands between the almond rolls. She desperately prayed to the Virgin Mary, the rollers miraculously moved away from each other, and she escaped without injury. The picturesque balcony has always been decorated with three lamps, but two of them were removed almost 60 years ago by order of the Communist nobility. For years they seemed to be irretrievably lost, but in 2013 residents of the house unexpectedly found one on the attic. Miraculously, four years later, the second one was found through a really bizarre coincidence. As if history wished we could continue to admire the magical balcony scenery on the gable of the house. Slavný renesanční dům "U obrázku Panny Marie" je jedním z malostranských symbolů. Poprvé je uveden v kupní smlouvě z 8. února 1657, kdy si jeden měšťanský manželský pár pořizuje tento dům, značně poškozený Švédy při bojích o Karlův most. Rozsáhlou přestavbou prošel až ve třetí čtvrtině 18. století, dalším rozšiřováním v baroku a pozdním klasicismu - to mu dalo stávající vzhled. Na fasádě je osazena pamětní deska malíře Adolfa Kašpara. Sklepy jsou zaklenuty valenými klenbami. Na štítě starší části, obráceném k mostu je ikonický balkonek, na jehož ornamentálním železném zábradlí svítí "věčné světlo". Nad tím visí obrázek P. Marie, který je zde od povodně roku 1784. Obraz má po stranách válečky, ke kterým se váže pověst, že když byla v domě prádelna s mandlem, jedna ze služebných omylem strčila ruce mezi válce mandlu. V zoufalství se pomodlila k Panně Marii, válce se jako zázrakem od sebe oddálily a ona vyvázla bez zranění. Malebný balkón odjakživa zdobily tři lampičky, ale dvě z nich byly před téměř 60 lety díky nařízení komunistické vrchnosti odstraněny. Po dlouhá léta se zdálo, že jsou nenávratně ztraceny, ale v roce 2013 obyvatelé domu jednu z nich nečekaně objevili na půdě. Čtyři roky nato se jako zázrakem našla i druhá za vcelku bizarní shody náhod. Jakoby i historie přála tomu, abychom mohli i nadále obdivovat kouzelnou balkónovou scenérii na štítu domu.

And yet to this place I have not broken down. So I do that. To say or write a few words about Charles Bridge simply has to be. Though I feel like crowds of tourists, mostly foreigners, who hunt selfies and then ask where they actually were. My Prague relatives say they have not been in these parts for several years. And actually why. Besides, they can come here anytime.

Everything is beautiful!