Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TOP SIGHTS
NATIONAL MONUMENT
OFFLINE MAP
The huge monument atop Žižkov Hill is not, strictly speaking, a legacy of the
communist era - construction began in the 1930s. But in the minds of most
Praguers over a certain age it is inextricably linked with the Communist Party of
Czechoslovakia, and in particular with Klement Gottwald, the country's first
'worker-president'. Although the massive functionalist structure has all the eleg-
ance of a nuclear power station, the interior is a spectacular extravaganza of
polished art-deco marble, gilt and mosaics, and home to a fascinating museum
of 20th-century Czechoslovak history.
History
The famous Battle of Vítkov Hill took place in July 1420 on the long, narrow ridge
that separates the Žižkov and Karlín districts, when the Hussite forces of Jan Žižka
defeated the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund.
