Legion Bridge is the seventh Prague bridge. It stands on the site of the original chain Bridge of Emperor Francis I and connects Národní Avenue via Shooters' Island with the Lesser Town.
It was built between 1898 and 1901 at the initiative of entrepreneur Vojtěch Lanna, to the winning design by architect Antonín Balšánek and engineer Jiří Soukup. It was ceremonially opened in 1901 in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph I, after whom it was first named. From 1919 it has been called Legion Bridge. Only during the Nazi occupation was it renamed Smetana Bridge, and from 1960 to the Velvet Revolution it bore the name 1st of May Bridge.
The bridge was built in a Neo-Baroque / Art Nouveau style. Its artistic decoration — the stone balustrade and bronze lighting candelabra — was renovated between 1981 and 1983 during the reconstruction of the National Theatre. Two towers stand on each side of the bridge; in the early days they served for collecting tolls. The bridge is 343 metres long and 16 metres wide. It is divided into 8 flat elliptical arches and one circular one. It is built of granite blocks.
You can see the bridge from the deck of our boats and steamboats on one of the longer cruises, such as the Prague Grand Cruise or the lunch cruise.
