Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
in the boundaries of Staré Město is the former Jewish quarter, or
Josefov
. The ghetto walls
have long since gone and the whole area was remodelled at the turn of the twentieth century,
but various synagogues, a medieval cemetery and a town hall survive as powerful reminders
of a community that has existed here for more than a millennium.
South and east of the Old Town is the large sprawling district of
Nové Město
, whose main
arteries make up the city's commercial and business centre. The heart of Nové Město is
Václavskénaměstí(WenceslasSquare)
, focus of the political upheavals of the modern-day
republic. Further afield lie various
suburbs
, most of which were developed only in the last
hundred years or so. One exception is
Vyšehrad
, which was among the original fortress set-
tlements of the newly arrived Slavs more than a thousand years ago and is now the final
resting-place of leading Czech artists of the modern age, including composers Smetana and
Dvořák. To the east is the eminently desirable residential suburb of
Vinohrady
, peppered
with gentrified parks and squares, and neighbouring
Žižkov
, whose two landmarks - the
Žižkov monument and the futuristic TV tower - are visible from far and wide.
Nineteenth-century suburbs also sprang up to the north of the city centre in
Holešovice
,
now home to Prague's main modern art museum,
Veletržní palác
. The area boasts two huge
swathes of greenery: the Letná plain, overlooking the city, and the Stromovka park, beyond
which lie the chateau of
Troja
and the zoo. Further west, leafy interwar suburbs like
De-
jvice
and
Střešovice
, dotted with modernist family villas, give an entirely different angle on
Prague.
Prague's outer suburbs, where most of the population lives, are more typical of the old
Eastern Bloc, dominated by bleak high-rise housing estates known locally as
paneláky
.
However, once you're clear of the city limits, the traditional, provincial feel of
Bohemia
(Čechy) makes itself felt. Many locals own a
chata
, or country cottage, somewhere in these
rural backwaters, and every weekend the roads are jammed with folk heading for the hills.
Few places are more than an hour from the city by public transport, however, making
day-
trips
relatively easy. The most popular destinations are the castles of
Karlštejn
and
Konop-
iště
, both surrounded by beautiful wooded countryside. Alternatively you can head north,
away from the hills and the crowds, to the wine town of
Mělník
, perched high above the
confluence of the Vltava and Labe (Elbe) rivers. Further north is
Terezín
, the wartime Jew-
ish ghetto that is a living testament to the Holocaust. One of the most popular day-trips is to
the medieval silver-mining town of
Kutná Hora
, 60km to the east, which boasts a glorious
Gothic cathedral and a macabre ossuary.
