Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Prague doesn't begin and end with Charles Bridge, and beyond the Baroque palaces of
theVltava'sleftbankliethecity'snorthernandwesternsuburbs,anareamosttourists
neglect. Spread over a much larger area than those east of the Vltava, the suburbs on
thissideoftheriveroffermuchgreatervariety;grittyHolešoviceandpartsofSmíchov
date from the late nineteenth century, whereas Dejvice and Střešovice were laid out
between the wars as well-to-do garden suburbs. The left bank also boasts a great deal
more greenery, including the city's largest public park, Stromovka. In the far west lies
Bílá hora, scene of the Czechs' most decisive defeat in battle, the effects of which still
reverberate to this day.
There are several specific sights in each suburb that can lend structure to your meandering.
The single most important attraction is the
Veletržní palác
in
Holešovice
, which houses the
country's finest modern art collection. Other sights - for instance the functionalist villas in
Dejvice
and
Střešovice
-areofmorespecializedinterest;some,suchastheexquisiteRenais-
sancechateauof
Hvězda
,deservetobebetterknown,andsomeareas,like
Smíchov
,givean
interesting slice of downtown Prague that most tourists don't get to see.
Holešovice and Bubeneč
The late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century districts of
HOLEŠOVICE
and
BUBENEČ
, tucked into a huge U-bend in the Vltava, have little in the way of truly magni-
ficent architecture, but they do have some grandiose apartment blocks and a huge swathe of
formerfactoriesthatareslowlybeingconvertedforuseasnightclubs,galleriesandflats.The
neighbourhoods also boast two huge areas of relaxing greenery: to the south,
Letná
, over-
looking the city centre, and to the north,
Stromovka
, bordering the Výstaviště funfair and
internationaltradefairgrounds.Holešoviceisalsohometothe
Veletržnípalác
,Prague'sim-
pressive modern art museum.
