Legion Bridge
Legion Bridge is the seventh bridge in Prague. Earlier in his place stood Chain Bridge of Emperor Francis I. Today it connects the National boulevard with theLesser Town and it goes over Střelecký island.
It was built from the initiative of a businessman Vojtech Lanna between 1898 – 1901 according to the winning project of architect Antonín Balšánek and ingeneer Jiří Soukup. The inauguration ceremony in 1901 was attended by Emperor Franz Joseph I, after whom it was given its first name. It has been called the Legion Bridge since 1919. Only during the occupation it was called Smetanův bridge and from 1960 to the Velvet Revolution it was called the bridge of 1st May.
The bridge is built in a neo-Baroque Art Nouveau style. Its artistic decoration consisting of stone railings and bronze candelabras underwent repairs in the years 1981 - 1983 on the occasion of the reconstruction of the National Theatre. On both sides of the bridge there are two towers, which at the beginning of the bridge were used for the collection of tolls. The bridge is divided into 8 flat elliptical arches and 1 round. It is built of granite blocks and measures 343 metres in length and is 16 metres wide.