A Little Much?

As I wandered around yesterday I came across this little museum at the end of the Charles Bridge that I just couldn't pass up, The Museum of Mid evil Torture Devices. The name just screams 'come on in, you'll have a grand time!'.  Though it was fairly small, it was really interesting. A lot of the devices I have seen before, or have at least heard of, but some of them...wow.

I don't remember what this was called, but essentially they strap you to this chair that is covered in metal spikes. Lovely.

Masks that they sometimes forced their victims to wear when being tortured publicly. Gotta make sure you can do everything you can to make the torture as painful and humiliating as possible.

 
                        

This one they have you sit on top of as you are chained up, pulled in all sorts of directions and people are pinching and prodding you. Thinking about it makes me hurt.

Or how about getting locked in this tomb with nails piercing your body? They placed the nails strategically so they wouldn't pierce any vital organs, making the process as long and painful as possible.

The Head Crusher. It needs no explanation.

This lovely saw they use to saw you in half vertically, while you are hanging upside down. With all the blood rushing to your head, it keeps you alive longer. Gruesome. (not sure what happened to this picture...)

A lot of the devices were used not to torture people to death, but to gather information or get confessions. If someone survived a torturing without a confession the courts would deem them innocent. The victim would then leave not only mentally and emotionally jacked up for life, but depending on the torture they could now be paraplegics or have had their bodies so destroyed they could no longer physically function normally.

I also learned that the chastity belt was not typically used to keep women faithful while husbands are gone at war or whatever the case. Keeping the belt on for more than a couple days would cause all sorts of infections and wounds because of the metal rubbing with the skin, and other things. It was more typically used when staying in hotels or travelling through dangerous lands, it seems that it is something that women more than likely would have requested to keep themselves safe. It was included in the museum because they said that even though women willingly wore them, they were torturing themselves to protect them from the violence of men. I thought that was very interesting.

After that intriguing and disturbing tour I headed to St Nicholas Church (the greenish blue domed building that appears in almost all my pictures of the Prague skyline). This place is out of control. It is so ornate and just over the top. Huge marble columns, domed ceiling, gold sculptures and detailing, frescoes in each of the domed ceilings, multiple altars...its just huge and dramatic. It was really cool, but a lot to take in visually. There is so much going on I wasn't sure where to look.  

                                       

                     

 

A little much, no?