Signs Of The Times

WALKING around Prague Old Town I have had a lot of fun looking at the district's many house signs from the days of mass illiteracy, and trying to guess what they signify.

This looks as if it should be on a winebar or tavern, but was placed on a housefront in the late 1700s by owners who wanted to highlight the biblical story of Joshua and Caleb bringing a huge bunch of grapes from the Promised Land 

I guessed this golden animal represented a lion, and indeed the house - now a pub-restaurant - previously had a lion as its emblem, but this was changed in 1713 to what is apparently a tiger

Snakes and their venom were associated with Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, and this one indicates the building was once a pharmacy

This mermaid is a long way from the sea, but has had plenty of time to contemplate her fate, having been installed in 1439 for reasons no longer known