Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the base of the monument reads “205,486 convicted, 248 executed, 4500 died in prison, 327
annihilated at the border, 170,938 emigrated”.
< Back to Malá Strana
Petřín
Funicularrailway Daily 9am-11.30pm; every 10-15min • 257 320 814 • Public transport tickets and travel
passes valid
Thehillywoodedslopesof Petřín ,distinguishedbytheRozhledna,ascaled-downversionof
the Eiffel Tower, make up the largest green space in the city centre. The tower is just one of
several exhibits that survive from the 1891 Prague Exhibition whose modest legacy also in-
cludesthe funicularrailway ( lanová dráha ),whichmakesitstrundlingascentfromastation
justoffÚjezd.Theoriginalfunicularwaspoweredbyasimplebutingenioussystemwhereby
twocarriages,oneateitherendofthesteeptrack,werefittedwithlargewatertanksthatwere
alternately filled at the top and emptied at the bottom. As the carriages pass each other at the
halfway station ofNebozízek, youcan get outandsoakinthe view fromthe restaurant ofthe
same name.
At the top of the hill, it's impossible to miss the southernmost perimeter wall of the old city
- popularly known as the Hladová zeď (Hunger Wall) - which heads northwestwards to the
Strahovský klášter and eastwards back down to Újezd. Instigated in the 1460s by Charles IV,
it was much lauded at the time (and later by the Communists) as a great public work that
provided employment for the burgeoning ranks of the city's destitute (hence its name); in
fact, much of the wall's construction was paid for by the expropriation of Jewish property.
Sv Vavřinec (St Lawrence)
Petřínské sady • Easter-Oct Fri 5-6.30pm
If you follow the wall northwest from the funicular, you'll come to the twin-towered church
ofsvVavřinec ,whichrecallstheGermannameforPetřín-Laurenziberg.Builtonthefound-
ations of a Romanesque chapel, the Baroque church you see today is probably the work of
KiliánIgnácDienzenhofer,butthebuildingitselfwaserectedbythePalliardifamilybetween
1739 and 1745.
Petřínská Rozhledna (Petřín Tower)
Petřínské sady • Daily: April-Sept 10am-10pm; March & Oct 10am-8pm; Nov-Feb 10am-6pm • 120Kč •
257 320 112, Museumprahy.cz
Topping Petřín hill is a series of buildings dating back to the 1891 Exhibition. The most cel-
ebrated of these is the Petřínská Rozhledna , an octagonal interpretation - though a mere
fifth of the size - of the Eiffel Tower that shocked Paris in 1889, and a tribute to the city's
strong cultural and political links with Paris at the time. It's 299 steps to the top, but the view
from the public gallery is terrific in fine weather.
 
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