DATE OF VISIT
On multiple occasions but most recently on 26th March 2024
COMMENTS
PETŘIN HILL & PARK
Petřín is a hill in the centre of the city of Prague. The hill rises to height of some 327 m above sea level and some 130 m above the lefthand bank of the Vlatava River. The hill, almost entirely covered with parks, is a firm recreational site for both residents and visitors to Prague. Rising in height as it does, the park provides spectacular views across the city and the spires of Prague, including wonderful views of Prague Castle.
The author Franz Kafka, featured Petřín hHill prominently in one of his early short stories entitled "Description of a Struggle" and it is also mentioned briefly in Milan Kundera's novel "The Unbearable Likeness of Being." The hill is known as Laurenziberg in German.
Petřín Hill has been previously described as a very rocky place and it is allegedly called Petřín and being so named for the large number of rocks, from the Latin word "Petra" meaning "rock."
For several centuries stones were dug out of Petřín Hill to support the construction of buildings within Prague.
Between 1360 and 1362 a medieval defence wall was built on the Hill, including the Hunger Wall. The construction took place on the order of King Charles IV of Bohemia. In 1891, the Petřín Lookout Tower was built on the top of the hill.
Please be warned that it is quite a steep walk to the summit of the hill and if you would like to visit I recommend that you take the funicular railway which operates between the district of Mala Strana and the summit - a funicular railway that first operated in 1891. Once you have ascended to the summit, and if the weather is clear, the views across the city, the castle and the surrounding area, are spectacular. I would also like to mention that there are many benches located throughout the park and so it is easy to sit and to enjoy the views!
LETOHRÁDEK KINSKÝCH
Letohrádek Kinských, more recently also called Musaion, is a suburban villa from the first half of the 19th century built in the style of late classicism with elements of the empire according to the project of the Viennese architect Heinrich Koch. It is located in the Kinské Garden, in Prague's Smíchov area and is part of the park of Petřín Hill.
In 1901 it became the headquarters of the Czechoslovak Ethnographic Museum. Since 1922 (with a break between 1986–2005) the building has been the Ethnographic Museum, a permanent exhibition of the ethnographic department of the National Museum and one of the largest museum collections of folk art and culture from the 17th to the 20th centuries of its kind in Europe.
If you have an interest in folk art and culture, I can recommend visiting this museum.
Add new comment