Here's looking atcha!

Once again, I recently came across a door that I could honestly say I have passed in front of a thousand times and never noticed!! Can you believe it?? I can't!

Finally, I opened my eyes (or was it my ears...

surely this beautiful door was screaming silent screams - afterall, there are enough mouths on it - for me to notice it each time I blindly walked past it!) and gave it a thorough inspection and photo-documenting. Notice the date of 1615 on the door? Wow!!

Funny faces...so nice to see that whoever made and/or wanted this door also had a sense of humour!!

Of course, in all fairness to myself, I do believe that the reason I never really noticed this door - in all its glory - is because it has always been open when I have gone past it. Perhaps this is why I only now noticed it...because it was closed!

I opened the door and was disappointed by what was behind it...so not interesting!!

Nevermind all that, let's just admire it and be glad that for whatever reason, it was there, waiting for me at just the right moment!! Now, you can enjoy it, too!

OK, so the handle isn't that fabulous...

but check out these places where the screws for the hinges are...I love how the one larger piece even has a little design carved into it!

A Beauty!

There are just so many doors here in Prague that I have lots of material for my files, so showing you a new door each day is not the problem; the problem is deciding WHICH door to show you!! I like to keep things as interesting as possible, therefore, I don't want to just show you beauties like this, but also sad doors and big doors and so on. I think they are all interesting, but I won't show you a door that doesn't 'feel' interesting to me...that would just be boring and dishonest. Maybe you would like to see doors like this everyday, but I think for the most part you will agree with me that by seeing some of the less interesting doors, it makes the more interesting doors even MORE interesting. Enjoy!!

Isn't that little open window above the door great? Notice it's very unusual shape...I love things like this!! And those little faces in the frame...they are not identical, which makes me wonder if they were made based on real-life people (or children as in this case). This frame is light and happy, yet solid and rich without being too much. I do like it a lot! The door, the frame and the various elements all work so well together here. OK, so the door handle isn't extraordinary, but the metal work all over the door and the area above the door makes up for it ten-fold as does the door's unusual shape...you HAVE to love that!!

In it's Own World

I hate to admit it, but it wasn't until I walked past this door for about the 10th time that I finally noticed it!! Admittedly, the first 9 times I 'missed' it I wasn't doing a blog about doors so wasn't yet in the 'check-out-all-doors-no-matter-what' mode. I'm glad that it finally got my attention and hope it will forgive me for not noticing it sooner. Here is my apology to this lovely door in the form of giving it it's special 'moment of fame' here on TheDoorHunter.

Now, take a look at this beauty. A nice, big, solid wood door rich with detailed carvings and lovely wrought-iron work nestled in a tastefully decorated recessed arch.

Take a few steps closer and concentrate just on the door. Do you see all those different forms and shapes...scrolls, circles, urns, semi-arches, repeating patterns, etc.? And there, among all those carvings is a face, top and center, watching over the door and greeting all who hope to go through it.

As I write this, I had a thought: I seem to be coming across more and more doors with faces or heads carved into the door itself. I'm not sure if there is some sort of symbolism with this or a message or if doors simply used to be made with faces or heads on them. Did their presence (no pun intended) have a particular meaning? Were the faces purely fictive or were they actually portraits of the buildings owner or other important person? Were they there to keep evil spirits out? I will have to see what I can dig up on this subject as surely there must be something more to these door personalities than just aesthetics!

Finally, if you look up, you will see this very unusual ceiling. I have to say that so far I have not come across a door and entry like this. Sure, I have found and posted recessed doors that consist of a gate then the door and maybe in between there is a corridor or open area which might have some ornament or simple design. This recessed door, however, is without a gate and the open space before the door has a very pretty, but not pretentious ceiling mural which gives the door a more important presence. I hope I find more of these kind of doors...perhaps they are out there just waiting for me to find them!