One of the things geocachers love best about geocaching is all of the wonderful places you discover and things you learn through your geocaching adventures. What better way is there to explore a new place? Our Geocache of the Week, Golden Prague (GC1XXGG), leads geocachers through the city of Prague on a 27-stage Multi-Cache adventure where they will discover the history of this extraordinary Czech city before they can sign the logbook and earn their smiley.
According to the cache owner, Benjo5, the cache is designed with tourists in mind. The Multi-Cache takes geocachers around to some of the most fascinating places in Prague, completing a circle around the historic city center and a smaller circle through the Castle District. The cache page notes that the route is about 6.2 mi (10 km) long and will take around three to four hours as cachers hike through this impressive European city. At each stage, cachers gather numbers from the area that they then plug into a formula to generate the final coordinates.
Although the stages don’t need to be completed in a specific order, most cachers will put on their comfortable walking shoes and begin their geocaching tour of the Golden City at the first stage, the Charles Bridge. Construction of the bridge began in 1357 and took nearly 50 years to finish. Its namesake, King Charles IV, was quite superstitious and believed 1357 was the perfect time to begin building the bridge based on astrology at the time. As cachers make their way across the famous bridge they will see an amazing view of the Prague Castle and the red rooftops of Prague’s skyline. The bridge boasts many beautiful statues, one of which will provide the information needed to complete the first stage.
Eventually cachers will wind through the streets to Prague’s Old Town Square, where they can observe remarkable Baroque and Gothic architecture at every turn. Cachers might indulge in a snack of palačinky, Czech pancakes, in one of the many cafes before seeing the Prague Astronomical Clock. Built in 1410, this medieval clock is the oldest working astronomical clock in the world. The engineering marvel displays not just the time and date, but the current astronomical data on the sun and the moon and includes moving statues on the hour!
No visit to Prague would be complete, and no smiley will be earned, without a visit to the 9th-century castle of Prague. Home to the Bohemian Crown Jewels and the office of the Czech President, the castle boasts an impressive collection of palaces, churches, and towers.
The last stage of the Multi-Cache brings cachers to Wallenstein Palace. While it currently houses the Czech Senate, it was built in the 1620s for a powerful noble, Albrecht Václav Eusebius of Wallenstein. Magnificent in scale and with a lavish interior, it was intended to outshine even the Prague Castle. In the summer, the Wallenstein Gardens attract visitors from all over the world. The peace of the garden is a pleasant break from navigating the bustling cobblestone streets of Prague.
Most cachers admit to taking their time to finish this Multi-Cache, with many spending two to three days completing the various stages and absorbing Prague’s incredible history. Although many logs mention the great time and effort required to log the find, they all say Golden Prague is well worth it in the end. Cacher Mohdoc wrote, “Wow what a wonderful puzzle, walk and final. Our Swiss friends who never did a cache before were amazed like we were. Just great.”
Cacher vanBaarsel echoed the great sentiment, “Thank you for this great multi cache, which was a very nice way to discover Prague. We saw a lot of wonderful places, learned something about the city and had a great time walking around!”
Continue to explore some of the most amazing geocaches around the world.
Check out all of the Geocaches of the Week on the Geocaching blog. If you would like to nominate a Geocache of the Week, fill out this form.
Source: Geocaching