Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Southern Malá Strana
PARK
ARK
KAMPA
( 12, 20, 22)
Kampa - an 'island' created by Čertovka (the Devil's Stream) - is the
most peaceful and picturesque part of Malá Strana. It was once farmland (the name
Kampa comes from
campus,
Latin for 'field'), but in the 13th century Prague's first
mill, the
Sovovský mlýn
(now Kampa Museum), was built here, and other mills
followed.
The north part of the island was settled in the 16th century after being raised above
flood level. (In 1939 the river was so low that it was again joined to the mainland, and
coins and jewellery were found in the dry channel.) The houses are clustered around a
picturesque little square called
Na Kampě
; at its northern end, at about waist height
on the wall to the left of the little gallery under the stairs leading up to Charles Bridge,
is a small
memorial plaque
that reads
Výska vody 4.žáří 1890
(height of waters, 4
September 1890), marking the level reached by the floodwaters of 1890. Directly
above it - above head height - is another marking the height of the 2002 floods.
The area where the Čertovka passes under Charles Bridge is sometimes called
Prague's Venice
- the channel is often crowded with dinky tour boats.
GALLER
ALLERY
KAMPA MUSEUM
concession 220/110Kč; 10am-6pm; 12, 20, 22)
Housed in a renovated mill building,
this gallery is devoted to 20th-century and contemporary art from Central Europe. The
highlights of the permanent exhibition are extensive collections of bronzes by Cubist
sculptor Otto Gutfreund and paintings by František Kupka, a pioneer of abstract art.
The most impressive canvas is Kupka's
Cathedral,
a pleated mass of blue and red
diagonals suggesting a curtain with a glimpse of darkness beyond. Outside the mu-
seum you can get a close-up look at one of David Černý's famous crawling babies
(the ones that swarm over the TV Tower in Žižkov).
MMUSSEUUM
60Kč;
1-6pm Mon, 10am-8pm Wed, 9am-6pm Fri, 10am-6pm Thu, Sat & Sun;
12, 20, 22)
