Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Neighbourhood Walk: Hradčany
START
HRADČANSKÁ METRO STATION
END
PETŘÍN
DISTANCE
2.5KM
DURATION
ONE HOUR
From the metro station follow K Brusce towards the stone portal of the
Písek Gate
. This baroque gateway, decor-ated with carved military emblems,
was built in 1721 as part of Prague's new fortifications; the streets on either side
still follow the outlines of the bastions.
Turn right on U Písecké Brány, and then left onto Tychonova. Here you will pass
two
Cubist houses
designed by Josef Gočár. Cross Mariánské Hradby and
enter the Royal Garden (open April to October only) beside the beautiful,
Renaissance
Summer Palace
.
Turn right, continue past the equally stunning
Ball-Game House
, and follow
the upper rim of the Stag Moat to the western end of the gardens. Go through
the gate and turn left to enter the Second Courtyard of Prague Castle via
Powder Bridge
.
Leave the courtyard via the first gate on the right, which leads into
Hradčany
Square
, once the heart of the aristocratic quarter of Hradčany, and now
watched over by a statue of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the first president of
Czechoslovakia. At the far end bear right on Kanovnická, past the pretty
Church of St John Nepomuk
, built in 1729 by the king of Prague baroque, Kili-
an Dientzenhofer.
Turn left into Nový Svět, a picturesque cluster of cottages once inhabited by
court artisans.
No 1 Nový Svět
was the home of astronomer Tycho Brahe
and, after 1600, his successor Johannes Kepler. Turn left on Černínská to the
pretty square in front of the extravagantly baroque
Loreta;
opposite is the
imposing facade of the Černín Palace, dating from 1692.
