Plzen is 90km west of Prague and is famous for being the birthplace of Pilsner beer. It was founded in 1295 by King Wenceslas II of Bohemia. It is found on the confluence of the rivers Radbuza and Mze.

The YouTube video I have made is split into two sections. First is a quick tour of the centre of the city of Plzen.

The second half of the video is music band followed by a carnival.

The railway station itself is worth seeing if only for it's architecture.

Underground
Under Plzen there are about 9 km of medieval underground tunnels. It is believed that they were originally built to protect the citizens of Plzen during sieges by enemies. Although it was started in the 13th century, it wasn't completed until the 19th century. They have been used for many things including for preserving food, for malt houses and as wine cellars.

Pilsner Urquell is the famous brewery in the city of Plzen. The brewery was founded in 1842 and is still working today. There is a tour of the brewery that you can take. It is quite lengthy though at roughly 2 hours but in my opinion well worth it. After listening the talk and touring the brewery we got around to the important part of tasting the beers ;-)

The Brewery Museum was once the Burghers brewery at 15th century malthouse. It was quite interesting and well worth a look. I like the scale model of the brewing system. The museum traces the history of the brewery. The captions are in English as well as Czech and are easy to read. We were still looking around the cellars very late on when we heard a 'click' and sudden darkness. I've never been in a place quite so dark. You literally couldn't see the person 1 foot in front of you! After some plaintiff shouting however, someone heard us and unlocked the door so that we could get out. Even so I think it was very impressive and well worth a look for beer lovers.

St. Bartholomew's Church is located in the centre of the town square. It is built in the 13th century in the gothic style and has the highest tower in the country at over 102 metres. At the back of the church there is an angel behind an iron grille. According to legend if you touch the angel an make a wish it will come true. Inside the church you can climb the spire from which you get a fantastic view and in the sanctuary there is a gothic Madonna (circa 1390) on the altar standing at 4 foot 6” tall and superb stained glass windows.

Town Hall
Looking down from St. Bartholomew's Church the large building in the centre dominating the other buildings is Plzen town hall. The building was purchased in 1496 by the people of Plzen to be used as a town hall although it was damaged by a large fire in 1507.

Town Square
The town square is thought to date back to around the 13th Century and at 552x627 feet is one of the largest medieval squares in the Czech Republic. The buildings are mainly built in the Gothic and Renaissance style with St. Bartholomew's Church dominating it's centre.