Touring the Beer Shrines
Plzenské Pivovary (Pilsner Breweries), at U Prazdroje 7, will interest anyone who wants to learn more about the brewing process. The brewery actually comprises several breweries, pumping out brands like Pilsner Urquell and Gambrinus, the most widely consumed beer in the Czech Republic. The 1-hour tour of the factory (which has barely changed since its creation) includes a 15-minute film and visits to the fermentation cellars and brewing rooms. The tour starts at 12:30pm, 2pm, and 4pm daily. Tours cost 130Kc ($6.20/£3.10); the price includes a dozen beer-oriented postcards and a tasting of freshly brewed beer. (For details on other tours, call tel. 377-062-888, log onto www.prazdroj.cz, or e-mail visits@pilsner.sabmiller.com.)
If you didn't get your fill of beer facts at the brewery, the Pivovarské muzeum (Beer Museum; tel. 377-235-574; www.prazdroj.cz) is 1 block away on Veleslavínova 6. Inside this former 15th-century house, you'll learn everything there is to know about beer but were afraid to ask. In the first room, once a 19th-century pub, the guard winds up an old German polyphone music box from 1887 that plays the sweet though scratchy strains of Strauss's Blue Danube. Subsequent rooms display a wide collection of pub artifacts, brewing equipment, and mugs. Most displays have English captions, but ask for a more detailed museum description in English when you enter. Admission is 80Kc ($3.80/£1.90), and hours are daily 10am to 6pm (to 5pm Jan-Mar).
Exploring Plzen
Filled with more knowledge than you may want about the brewing process, proceed to the main square to see what's hopping (sorry). Dominating the center of the square is the Gothic Cathedral of St. Bartholomew, with the tallest steeple in the Czech Republic at 100m (328 ft.). A beautiful marble Madonna graces the main altar. The church is open daily from about 7am to 8pm.
You'll see Italian flair in the first four floors of the 16th-century Town Hall and in the sgrafitto (etchings) adorning its facade. Later on, more floors were added, as well as a tower, gables, and brass flags, making the building appear as though another had fallen on top of it. The Town Hall (tel. 378-032-550) is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm, Saturday from 9am to 1pm. In front of the Town Hall, a memorial built in 1681 commemorates victims of the plague.
Just west of the square on Sady petatricátníku lie the shattered dreams of the 2,000 or so Jews who once called Plzen home. The Great Synagogue, the third largest in the world, was built in the late 19th century. A painstaking restoration project has brought back this shrine's beauty and is a must-see to take in some of the history that makes the Czech Republic so fascinating.
