Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Opposite the palace is the
John Lennon Wall
, where Prague's youth established an ad hoc
graffitishrinetotheex-Beatleafterhisviolentdeathin1980.Therunningbattlebetweenpo-
liceandgraffitiartistscontinuedthroughoutthe1990s,withtheMalteseKnights(whosewall
it is) taking an equally dim view of the mural, but a compromise has now been reached and
the wall's scribblings legalized, though none of the original artwork has survived. Another
shrine has developed to the east, on the bridge over the
Čertovka
, where couples have at-
tached
heartshaped padlocks
to the railings.
Kampa
Tram #12, #20 or #22 to Hellichova
Heading for
Kampa
, the largest of the Vltava's islands, with its cafés, old mills and serene
riverside park and playground, is the perfect way to escape the crowds on Charles Bridge,
from which it can be accessed easily via a stone flight of steps. The island is separated from
the left bank by Prague's “Little Venice”, a thin strip of water called
Čertovka
(Devil's
Stream), which used to power several mill-wheels and whose banks bear no resemblance at
all to La Serenissima. In contrast to the rest of the left bank, the fire of 1541 had a positive
effect on Kampa, since the flotsam from the blaze effectively stabilized the island's shifting
shoreline.Nevertheless,KampawasstillsubjecttofrequentfloodingrightupuntiltheVltava
was dammed in the 1950s. Only in the great flood of 2002 did water again reach the second
floor of some buildings.
For much of its history, the island was the city's main wash house, a fact commemorated by
the church of
sv Jan Křtitel Na Prádle
(St John-the-Baptist at the Cleaners) on Říční, bey-
ond the southernmost tip of the island. It wasn't until the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries
that the Nostitz family, who owned Kampa, began to develop the northern half of the island;
the southern half was left untouched, and today is laid out as a public park, with riverside
views across to Staré Město. To the north, the oval main square,
Na Kampě
, once a pottery
market, is studded with slender acacia trees and cut through by the Charles Bridge.
Museum Kampa
U Sovových mlýnů 2 • Daily 10am-6pm • 220Kč • 257 286 147,
museumkampa.cz
• Tram #12, #20 or
#22 to Hellichova
Housed in a stylishly converted riverside watermill, the
MuseumKampa
is dedicated to the
private art collection of Jan and Meda Mládek. As well as temporary exhibitions, this smart
moderngallerydisplaysthebestoftheMládeks'permanentcollection,includingavastseries
of works by the Czech artist
František Kupka
(1871-1957), in international terms the most
important Czech painter of the twentieth century. Apprenticed to a saddler who initiated him
into spiritualism, Kupka became a medium and took up painting, eventually moving to Paris
in 1895. He secured his place in art history by being (possibly) the first artist in the Western
