Jon Searles' photos with the keyword: Hradec Kralove

This is a taxiway, but looks like a runway. In actuality, the runway is off in the distance, at the end of the taxiway. The only runway at Hradec Kralove Airport is 7874X197 feet, the length in meters being 2400 (the 197-foot width converts to 60.05m), meaning that it can service small jets and lightly loaded jet airliners and cargo planes. At least one website says that there is jet fuel on hand for those who need it. Strangely, I never found where the planes are parked, as so many other things go on at the airport (mentioned earlier) that the fencing is really confusing. What's secure, and what isn't??? After all, I was standing in the middle of the taxiway, and that apparently was alright, although I shot this photo through a fence they had set up near one end. Looking down the runway at that gantry, I assumed it was for drag racing, meaning that on this day the airport must have been closed to flights (the racers would have crossed the runway on a pass, but of course this is all speculation on my part). Not much information is available online. Google Earth seems to show parking that would be to the right in this photo quite far behind those trees.

Hradec Kralove Airport used to be an air base, as evidenced by the many old military hangars there. Today it is overshadowed by the nearby Pardubice Airport, but remains open not only as a general aviation airport but also as an exhibition ground, hosting motorsports events, concerts, skateboarding events, and extreme sports.

Here's another "bespectacled" diesel locomotive, only this time a Class 750. The 750 class is simply an early-1990's rebuild of a 753. Actually, the only original bespectacled diesels were the 753 and 754 classes, so today there are some rebuilt 753 Class units, designated 753.7, and then there are the rebuilt Classes 750, 752 (not to be confused with ZSSK Class 752, which is the same class as CD Class 751), and 752.6.

Here's another Class 914 railbus, recently rebuilt (if my understanding is correct), from a Class 010 coach.

This is the radnice, or city hall, of Hradec Kralove, adjacent the Cathedral.

One of the stranger scultures in the museum is on the front portal, of a miniature figure standing in the hand of another figure. An earlier draft of this statue, in much smaller size, can be seen inside the museum.

The "Muzeum vychodnich Cech," or Museum of Eastern Bohemia, is as well known for its cubist architecture as for what's in it (although it is a decent museum for the area). It was designed by Jan Kotera (a common misconception, formerly held by me, was that it was designed by Josef Gocar, who designed some of the older suburbs), and completed in 1912. The exhibits are mostly historical in nature, stretching from the Stone Age to the mid-20th Century.

This old brewery was nothing but a ruin the last time I photographed it four years ago or so. Now it's been fully rebuilt into the "Regiocentrum Nový Pivovar," which according to what I've found online, is "multi-functional." I didn't have a chance on this trip to investigate what that really means, though. A few breweries, surprisingly, still function around Hradec Kralove, but I'm assuming that they don't use this old facility.

The street performers also had this customised Trabant 601. These cars run nearly forever, so they're still quite common 20 years after the fall of Communism, in spite of not even being Czech.

Here's an alternate shot of the cathedral and white tower, with some street peformers in the street below. They were promoting a historical play for children.

I've taken a version of this shot before, but this is the first time I got a shot of Velke Namesti with a nice camera, as last time I only had a disposable.

Two of the most important attractions in the center of Hradec Kralove are the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, on the right, and the White Tower, on the left. The Cathedral was built in 1307, but did not achieve the status of a Cathedral until the founding of the Diocese of Hradec Kralove in 1664. The cathedral was rebuilt in 1864, 1874, and 1901, giving it its present appearance. The White Tower, added in 1589, was constructed to hold an astronomical clock (removed in 1829) and an enormous 10-ton bell, the Augustine Bell, which is still in the tower today. The "new" clock from 1829 is interesting in its own right, in that the long hand indicates hours, and the short one minutes. Originally run by traditional clockwork, it has since been converted to electric motion, although the original motion has been preserved. At 71.5 meters in height, the tower also makes a good observation tower, and is open to the public for this purpose. Needless to say, the giant bell is not normally active, as it was always manually operated anyway.

Here's the clock tower on Hradec Kralove Hlavni Nadrazi.

Here's a shot of the bus terminal that I managed to get in a shadow. As you can see, many of Hradec Kralove's buses are trolleybuses.

The station itself was more or less as before, meaning that it was still quite early-to-mid-20th Century in appearance.

This busboard wasn't outside Hradec Kralove Hlavni Nadrazi on my last visit several years ago, and for that matter, the whole bus terminal was so freshly rebuilt and maintained this time that its whiteness was giving me some exposure difficulties with the camera.

This was the builder plate for 754048-7, built by CKD in 1980.

When we got to Hradec Kralove, we were treated to the sight of an old, and unrebuilt, Class 754 "bespectacled," or "Brejlovec" diesel. My friend hadn't photographed one of these yet, and I decided to take a few shots too, since I don't know how much longer they'll still be in service. I've been a bit surprised in the past year in that I've been finding these diesels more often, rather than less often, and I can't figure out why that is. Maybe it's that the allocations have changed.