The Petřín hill that dominates the Malá
Strana in the height of 328 m belongs to the largest parks in Prague.
The place became famous already in the Pagan times; it is mentioned
in the first manuscripts as the executing place of the Vršovci kin that
were defeated by the Přemyslovci. It was also a ritual place of the Slavonic
gods and the place where were done the sacrifices to the Perun.
Also because of this reasons at the beginning of t he 10th century the first
building at this place was the Church of St Lawrence to reject the reminds
at the Pagan cults.
The church was rebuilt to its present form in the
baroque style in the years 1770-
1780. Since 1994 the Church
is owned by the Old Catholic
Church. Due to some information
the name Petřín comes from the
Latin word petrus (rocks), what
is connected to the upper part of
Petřín from argillite and sandstone
(national reservation Petřín
Rocks). The argillite was used
also for the construction of the
Starvation Wall, called also
Jagged or Bread Wall. It was built
by the Emperor Charles IV in the
years 1360-1362 as a new fortification
for the Lesser Quarter. It
is said that the Emperor wanted
to provide work to hundreds
of people in the times of
crop failure. The bastions have
not preserved till the present.
The wall was fortified in the
time of Maria Theresa and
one of the new created bastions
became a ground
of the Štefánik observatory,
built in 1928.
From the Kinský place we come to the foothill of Petřín in the Kinský
Gardens designed in the landscape style with the Empire villa
from the years 1828-1833, where is now located the Ethic museum,
part of the National Museum in Prague. Since 1914 near |
the villa there is placed the monument of t he actress Hana Kvapilová made by Jan Štursa. Another interesting place of Petřín
is the wooden Orthodox Church of St Michael, transferred
from the village Medvedovce in Mukačevo at the occasion
of the annexation of the Sub-Carpathian Russia to the first
Czechoslovak Republic. At the beginning of the 20"'century
there was from the Kampa to the lower lake transferred also
the sandstone statue of Hercules
from the end of the 17,h century.
The upper lake is decorated with
the statue of the Sea Lion
from the sculptor Jan Lauda.
Along
the fortification on the way down from Strahov there are
the Calvary Chapels (painted by Jakub Schikaneder) and the
last building in the surrounding of the Petfin Tower is the
Chapel of the Sepulchre of Christ in an Orient style that
is the copy of the real grave in Jerusalem. The Calvary Chapel
(the chapel of the Holy Rood) is a baroque building from the
years 1735-1737 with the sculpture of Calvary and the Christ
Dungeon.
Further we continue to the Statue of the Holy Mary
placed at the highest place of the Great Strahov Garden, that
is a part of the Strahov Monastery Gardens. The statue was made
by the emigrants in Roma in 1954 according to the pictures of the
statue at the marble column at the Old Town Square, and then was
put in the Benedictine abbey in the town Lisle close to Chicago and in
1993 was again transferred to Prague. Via the lower view route through
the Strahov Garden we return back, we pass along the National Reservation
Petfin rocks, Lobkovic Garden, with the memorial of the poet
Jaroslav Vrchlicky, which belongs to the Lobkovic Palace, the residence
of the German Embassy. Further we walk though the Seminary
Garden, one of the pear trees is dated back to the times of the
writer Jan Neruda and in the lower part of the garden we can
see his bronze statue from 1970 made by Jan Simota. Not far
from here there is the bronze fountain with the statues of two
boys, called U Žabiček. The models for the statues of the boys
playing with the frog were the grandchildren of T. G. Masaryk,
Leonard and Herbert, that died in the war. In the
garden there is also the early classicist Chapel of Sf Lewis
and in 1950 there was transferred the sandstone statue of
the famous Czech violinist and composer Ferdinand Laub
(1832-1875). In the Seminary Garden we can also find the
well with the spring Petřínka, due to the legends with the
healing and aphrodisiac effects.
Book here free entrance with Prague card
Opening hours:
February 10 - 17 Saturday, Sunday
March 10 - 17 daily
April 10 - 19 daily
May - September 10 - 22 daily
October 10 - 20 daily
November - January 10 - 19 daily
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