Vojanovy sady (Vojan’s Orchards)

Vojanovy sady is a public park in Prague’s Lesser Town quarter. It is sometimes considered to be the oldest garden in Prague, because the history of the garden dates from mediaeval times. Its space was permanently defined by two palaces from the north (the Thurn–Taxis Palace and the Windischgräts Palace) and the St. Joseph Church from the west. The church is part of the cloister of Barefoot Carmelites. At the end of the 18th century, the garden came to the ownership of the Congregation of Jesus (an order also known as English Ladies). It slowly transformed from a utilitarian orchard to an English-style park. Currently, Vojanovy sady is a beautiful garden primarily intended for relaxation.

Hergetova cihelna (Herget’s Brickworks)

The first records regarding this area come from the 14th century. The name originates from 1781 when a brickworks owner, F.A.L. Herget, had a new factory building built here. Aside from the terrace and its beautiful view of the Charles Bridge and the Vltava River, since 2005 the location has offered an exposition of the Franz Kafka Museum and a small boat landing that serves as a popular location for weddings. 

Luzicky-seminar

Lužický (Lausitzer) Seminar

was founded in 1724 as a seminary for the preparation of future Roman Catholic priests from Upper Lusatia. The house still includes a chapel on the first floor. It is also dedicated to St. Peter.

Next to the seminary is the traditional-style bookshop Shakespeare & Sons. It offers gems of literature by local and foreign authors in the original.

kandelábr na Dražického náměstí

Candelabra street lighting

Historical candelabras add to the mysterious atmosphere of the historical part of the centre of Prague. The unique lighting, like the Charles Bridge lighting, is connected to gas and illuminates the fairy-tale corners of the Lesser Town Bridge Tower on Dražický Square.

In Czech, the term Kandelábr was already used in the 19th century for public lighting stands, especially for gas lighting stands.

sv. Mikuláš z Tolentina

The Charles Bridge

Until the middle of the 19th century, Charles Bridge was the only way to cross the Vltava River in Prague. It connects the Old Town with the Lesser Town.

The bridge is 515 metres long and 9.40 to 9.50 metres wide. The height of the stone walkway is 13 m above the normal level of the Vltava River. It is broken three times along its length and slightly convex upstream. It consists of sixteen arches.

Sovovy mlýny (Sova’s Mills)

This is one of the oldest mills in Prague, in use since the 15th century, particularly for milling barley, until it burned down in 1896. Currently the building of the former Sova’s Mills on the Kampa Island is used for the display of modern art. 

The National Theater has been aptly nicknamed The Golden Chapel. Over 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds) of 24-carat gold was used for gold-leafing the roof.

Hlasy z podzemí v Praha

Voices from the Underground

The first version of this bronze sculpture, by British sculptor Kaivalya Torpy is located in a port in Norway. A year later, another piece was unveiled in the Agung Rai Museum in Ubud (Bali), with a ceremony attended by the royal family. It is a sculpture of Sri Chinmoy that perfectly embodies the ideal of harmony. In 2009, this work was cast in the Czech Republic and donated to the Prague museum. Interestingly, the sculpture had drawn its most attention from Praguers during floods, when it indicated the rising level of the flood-water.

Memorial Tree

This tree of unusual size and age is a significant feature of the landscape. It is the remnant of the former Velíkovská Garden. Kampa Island was unified into the current single park as we know it today only at the turn of 1940’s and 1950’s. The ancient plane tree is the largest tree in Kampa Park and said to be over 200 years old.

The Infant Jesus of Prague

The star atop the Our Lady of Victory Church, with its adjoining cloister of the Barefoot Carmelites is located on Karmelitská Street in the Lesser Town. The church is particularly renowned for a small sculpture of the Infant Jesus of Prague and is often referred to by this name. The supposedly miraculous sculpture of the infant is regularly ceremonially dressed, highlighting its humanity. As a mother might dress her child, the Carmelite sisters dress the baby Jesus.

Church of the Virgin Mary under Chain

The Maltese Knights order was formed during the 11th century in Palestine to protect Christians against pagans and to gain control of the Holy Land, which was then under Islamic rule. Today’s shape of the church reflects the torso of an unfinished Gothic temple, the construction of which was initiated by King Charles IV. According to the Maltese Knights and order sources, the full original name of this temple was “Church of Virgin Mary under the Chain of the End of the Bridge.” The church is also used to ordain new members of the order and as a burial site for various significant members of the order.

Lennon Wall

A graffiti-covered wall dedicated to singer John Lennon, which began featuring writing and paintings during the 1970’s. Often referred to as Prague’s Wailing Wall, it mostly featured chalk-written love poems. After the death of Lennon in 1980, someone used an empty stone plaque (likely formerly a part of the public water supply system) to create a symbolic tomb of John Lennon. An unknown author wrote in chalk “For John Lennon” and drew a cross. This later developed into an elaborate graffiti work and the illegally decorated wall was an unusual instance of freedom of expression during the Czechoslovak Communist period.

Velkopřevorský mlýn (The Grand-Priory Mill)

A mill built along the Vltava River channel, later named Čertovka. It was founded by the Order of St. John of Jerusalem (later the Maltese Knights order) during the reign of King Vladislav I, along with the foundation of the church and monastery. In 1526 the mill belonged to miller Štěpán (Stephan) and was often referred to as Štěpánský or Štěpánovský. The mill kept changing owners and, among other things, served as a workshop for cleaning feathers. The eight-meter (26-foot) mill wheel is over 100 years old. It was reconstructed after a fire in 1938 to a level that, in case of need, it could continue its function today.