View from the Malá Strana Bridge Tower in E direction. Connecting Malá Strana (Lesser Side) in the foreground and the Old Town (Staré Město) of Prague in the background, the Charles Bridge was the only fixed crossing of the Vltava river from its completion in 1402 until the mid 19th Century. Originally known as Kamenný most (Stone Bridge) or Pražský most (Prague Bridge), it was renamed to Karlův most only in 1870.