Square, Plaza sights in Brno
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Náměstí Svobody
Masarykova leads to Brno's elegant and spacious main square, Náměstí Svobody, the city's bustling central hub. On the eastern side of the square is the house of the four mamlases (dům U čtyř mamlasů). The façade is supported by a quartet of extremely muscled but clearly moronic 'Atlas' figures, each struggling to hold up the building and their loincloths at the same time.
Created by Germano Wanderley in 1928, the building has provoked a longstanding and robust debate over whether the statues aptly reflect the elegant face of the Moravian capital.
Náměstí Svobody dates from the early 13th century, when it was called Dolní trh (Lower market). Its plague column dates …
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Cabbage Market
Opposite the Capuchin monastery, a lane leads into the sloping square of Cabbage market, the heart of the old town and where live carp were sold from the baroque Parnassus fountain (1695) at Christmas. The fountain is a symbolic cave encrusted with allegorical figures.
Hercules restrains three-headed Cerberus, watchdog of the underworld, and the three female figures represent the ancient empires of Babylon (crown), Persia (cornucopia) and Greece (quiver of arrows). The triumphant woman on top (arrogantly) symbolises Europe. The square has been the best place in town to buy fruit and vegies since the 13th century, and smart shoppers still flock to it. However, the fountain…
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Dominikánské náměstí
From náměstí Svobody, Zámečnická leads west to Dominikánské náměstí, a humble square dominated by the church of St Michael (kostel sv Michala), which has an interesting, ornate main altar (1759) by Josef Winterhalter and a massive pair of cupola-topped towers.
Also facing the square is the 16th-century New town hall (Nová radnice) with its impressive frescoes.
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