The Lennon Wall – Prague, Czech Republic

John Lennon of the Beatles is one of the most recognisable name in music. After his assassination on 8 December 1980, an unknown artist painted a portrait of Lennon on a wall in Mala Strana, Prague. The wall was originally used by locals to vent frustrations and protest over the communist takeover. But after that faithful day, this stretch of wall became a place for fans and music lovers to grief.

The Lennon Wall is located near the iconic Charles Bridge, just follow the crowd of tourists near the river and they will lead you there. Obviously, the original John Lennon painting is nowhere to be seen as it is buried under the layers of new paintings and graffiti. There were actually more writings than paintings, and most of them are not related to John Lennon himself.

The place was packed with tourists, on the roughly 80m stretch of wall, we counted easily 200 visitors. Many of them brought their own coloring equipment and were seen scribbling on the walls. We were told that this John Lennon Wall is the only place in Prague where it is ok and legal to draw graffiti.

The Lennon Wall is like a art piece that gets updated every few days. What you see here or on the internet will not be the same when you visit. New paintings are drawn by artists every now and then.

It is also very difficult to take photos of the wall as tourists queue and line themselves for selfie. Buskers like to camp at this area too, singing the classic Beatles songs.

There is a small park and cafe behind the wall, which is a private property, and more drawings/graffiti can be seen there too. Further along the street, we found many restaurants and cafes that carried the theme of Lennon and Beatles too. If you are a great Beatles fan, this is definitely a must visit place in Prague.