Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
city. To the south of Šárka is the battlefield of Bílá hora , and Hvězda , a beautiful park con-
taining a pretty star-shaped mini-chateau.
Dejvice
DEJVICE wasplannedandbuiltintheearly1920sfortheFirstRepublic'sburgeoningcom-
munity of civil servants and government and military officials. Its enormous, unappealing
mainsquare, Vitěznénáměstí (metroDejvická),isunavoidableifyou'replanningtoexplore
any of the western suburbs, since it's a major public transport interchange. There's nothing
muchofnoteinthiscentralpartofDejvice,thoughyoucan'thelpbutnoticetheformer Hotel
International (now the Crowne Plaza ) at the end of Jugoslávských partyzanů, a Stalinist
skyscraperthatisdisturbinglysimilartotheuniversallyloathedPalaceofCultureinWarsaw.
For followers of socialist realist chic, however, its workerist motifs merit closer inspection.
Baba
Bus #131 from metro Hradčanská
Dejvice's most intriguing villas are located to the north of Vitězné náměstí in Baba , a model
neighbourhood of 33 functionalist houses , each individually commissioned and built under
theguidanceofone-timeCubistandborn-againfunctionalistPavelJanák.Agroupofleading
architects affiliated to the Czech Workers' Alliance, inspired by a similar project in Stuttgart,
initiated what was, at the time, a radical housing project to provide simple, single-family vil-
las. The idea was to use space and open-plan techniques rather than expensive materials to
create a luxurious living space.
Despite the plans of the builders, the houses were mostly bought up by Prague's artistic and
intellectual community. They have stood the test of time better than most utopian architec-
ture, not least because of the fantastic site - facing south and overlooking the city. Some of
them remain exactly as they were when first built, others have been radically altered, but as
none of them is open to the public you'll have to be content with surreptitious peeping from
the following streets: Na ostrohu, Na Babě, Nad Paťankou and Průhledová. To see the inside
of a functionalist - albeit luxury - house, you need to head for the Müllerova vila .
Muzeum MHD (Transport Museum)
Patočkova 4 • In theory April to mid-Nov Sat & Sun 9am-5pm, but it's worth calling to check • 35Kč • 296
128 900, dpp.cz • Tram #1, #2, #8, #18, #25 to Vozovna Střešovice
Created in 1993, Prague's public transport museum, Muzeum MHD , is housed in a 1909
tramshedontheborderofStřešoviceandHradčany.Theoldestexhibitisahorse-drawntram
from 1886, but the majority of the vehicles here are municipal trams from the last century,
sporting the cream and red livery introduced in 1908.There are one ortwo buses and trolley-
buses too, and an exhibition covering everything from funiculars to the Soviet-built metro.
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