Prague In Plain Sight #6 - The Royal Gardens (Královská zahrada)

If you take the 22 tram up towards Prague Castle from the centre of town (the most popular way to go) and disembark at the Pražský hrad stop, it is very easy to head straight through the security point and head directly towards the castle buildings via the Powder Bridge. But in doing so, you're likely to miss out on the Royal Gardens, described by some as the most historically valuable of the castle gardens. 

Founded in 1534 by Ferdinand I, who acquired the land which was originally a mediaeval vineyard, the original gardens were inspired by Renaissance designs from Italy. From the very early days, the gardens were planted with exotic botanical specimens from all over the world. The current designs are based on ideas from 19th-century English parks.

The Hercules Fountain

The buildings in the gardens were all built for the express purpose of the pursuit of leisure for the nobility rather than for any functional end. The most exquisite of these is the Ball Game Hall (Míčovna) which is covered in beautiful frescos. Built between 1567 and 1569 by the architects Bonifác Wohlmuth and Oldřich Aostalis, on the south side of the gardens, directly above the Stag Moat, the hall has also served as a riding school and stables and during the reign of Josef II, it was used as a military storage facility.

One of the archways on the Ball Game Hall originally open to the outside

The frescos represent the personification of four elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water), seven main virtues (Forethought, Restraint, Mercy, Hope, Justice, Bravery, Faithfulness), and eight free arts (Theology, Astronomy, Geometry, Music, Arithmetics, Rhetorics, Dialectics, Grammar). In the 1950s an emblem of a Five-Year Plan with a sickle and a hammer were added in the third arch on the left as an allegory of industry and agriculture. (This is the only preserved feature of social realism within the Prague Castle premises).

The hall was burnt down following fighting in May 1945 but the designs were painstakingly restored, first in 1952, and then further between 1971 and 1973.

The fresco representing faith

and the art of Astronomy

The other buildings in the Royal Gardens are the Summer Palace which stands behind the Singing Fountain, the Hercules Fountain, the Lion Court and the newest building, The Orangery.

Looking back to the castle from the Royal Garden

One of the best things about this particular garden is that it offers a completely different view of the castle complex from the one that is most familiar. Additionally, when I made my only visit here in 2016, it was possible to get down to the Stag Moat (Jelení příkop). This is a natural ravine from the Brusnice stream which takes its name from when deer were bred here in the 17th century. Later, even up until the 1960s bears were bred in the moat.

Looking down into the Stag Moat

In 2018, access to the Stag Moat was restricted "for technical reasons", but there has been increased security around the area so I do wonder if this is the real reason behind the restricition.

Unfortunately, the Royal Gardens are also only open during the extended summer season from April until October, but when they are open, entry is free. If you've enjoyed this, I've written about other gardens associated with the castle here.

Queen Libuše - People In Prague #3

I've written a little about the old citadel of Vyšehrad and Queen Libuše in a previous post. As a lifelong fan of mythology and legend, I was immediately drawn to the tale of how Prague became the city it is now, and it's only fitting to revisit Libuše's story as part of the People of Prague series. It's also an opportunity to showcase some new photos that I took in the summer!

Libuše and Přemysl

The statue shown in these photographs is of Libuše and her peasant husband, Přemysl, and is one of four great statues in the grounds of the Vyšehrad fort, sculpted by Josef Myslbek in the late 1890s. Originally they were situated at the four corners of Palacky Bridge but were badly damaged in 1944 during a US bombing raid over southern Prague. The original was too badly damaged to be retained and this is a copy.

According to legend, Libuše was one of the three daughters of old king Krok. She was the wisest of the three sisters. Her sister Kazi was a healer, Teta was a magician, but Libuše had the gift of prophecy, and was chosen by her father as his successor, to judge over the people.

Although regarded as a wise and just leader, Libuše was unmarried which was a problem in a largely male-dominated society. To appease the tribe, she agreed to take a husband but was in love with a peasant ploughman. In order to marry the man she desired, she told of a vision in which she saw the man she would marry eating from an iron table, wearing a broken sandal, and her horse would be able to lead her to this man. The animal was duly dispatched where it came across the ploughman called ‘Přemysl’ (his name means thoughtful, or studious). He was brought back to Vyšehrad and became the father of the great Přemyslid dynasty.

Libuše and Přemysl

Inspired by her prophetic success, Libuše went into a further trance. This time her horse took her in a quite different direction, towards the area where Prague Castle now stands. ‘Go until you reach a man making a lintel for his house’, the vision had said, ‘and there you will found a city whose fame will reach the stars.’ She did, and she named it ‘Prah’, the old Czech word for a lintel.

Libuše

Přemysl

Legend aside, the Přemyslid dynasty ruled Bohemia from the 8th century- the first historical Přemyslid was Duke Bořivoj I, baptised in 874 by Saint Methodius - until 1306.

Queen Libuše features in many Czech literary, musical and dramatic works, including the opera by Smetana and 'Pole a palisáda', a novel by Miloš Urban. The minor planet 264 Libussa is named for her.

For reference the other sculptures in the vicinity of the statue of Libuše and Přemysl in Vysehrad are:

• the allegorical couple, ‘Lumír and Piseň’ — singer and muse. 
• Ctirad and Šárka, characters from the 7th-century War of the Maidens
• Záboj and Slavoj, the brothers who lead the rebellion against the invasion of Charlemagne and allegedly led the victorious battle in 805

Prague In Plain Sight #5 - The Wallenstein Gardens

There is a myriad of palaces and gardens on the Malá Strana side of the Vltava. I’ve written about a few of them including the Palace Gardens and Vojanovy sady.

I’d read about the Wallenstein Gardens (Valdštejnská zahrada) but it took me a while to find out where the physical entrance was. As is often the case in Prague, I’d walked past the entrance dozens of times without realising that the doorway set in the long whitewashed wall running the length of Letenská was the portal to the secret garden. It didn’t help that the gardens are only open between April and October, which meant I had to wait for six months before the door was open!

Wallenstein Palace in Malá Strana

Covering over 4 acres (1.7 hectares) the Wallenstein Garden and Palace complex lies sandwiched between Letenská and  Valdštejnská, in the heart of the government district of Prague. It was built by Albrecht of Valdstejn between 1623 and 1630. The general was one of the most influential Catholic commanders in the imperial army of Ferdinand II and was the Commander-in-Chief during the Thirty Years War. Ultimately, Ferdinand had him assassinated in 1634, so he only lived in his palace for a year. However, it remained in the Wallenstein family until 1945. Following the war, it became the property of the Czech state, and now houses the Senate of the Czech Republic.

The Sala Terrana hosts concerts and plays

The palace complex was designed to rival Prague Castle and consists of four main courtyards, a period garden, a riding school, an aviary, a grotto, a pavilion overlooking a fountain and lake, and an Avenue of sculptures.

Looking down the mythological corridor

These sculptures and frescos which adorn the palace and garden buildings are all based on mythological stories and beings, but many of them include depictions of the Duke himself, giving us an indication of his vanity, and why Ferdinand II considered him a threat to his own reign.

The Sala Terrena is used for plays and concerts and shows scenes from the Trojan War. Next to this is the artificial grotto, comprising lime stucco stalactites built using roof ridge tiles.

The Grotto

A nearby, small fountain is a copy of a bronze original of Venus with Cupid and a dolphin, which was taken by the Swedish Army as war booty in 1648. The same fate met the statues of the mythological avenue, created in 1625-26. These are now copies also, as the originals are still located in Castle Drootningholm in Sweden.  The main fountain is a sculpture of Hercules with the Nayades (river nymphs), and the pond in which it stands was used for experiments with a steamship in 1816.

As I mentioned, the gardens are closed during the winter, but if you’re in Prague between late spring and autumn the Wallenstein gardens should be near the top of your bucket list. Aim to go earlier in the morning, as the gardens are popular with large, organised groups and it's best to appreciate the splendour of the surroundings in relative peace and quiet, and easier to take photos of the statues (and the white peacocks) before small children start climbing all over them!

Wining and Dining in Prague - A Veritable Smörgåsbord (Part 1)

Before the purists start having a go, I'm using the term Smörgåsbord in a literary sense here - namely to describe a wide range of delicious hot and cold food that should be enough to whet any appetite.

Prior to moving to Prague, one of my oldest memories from a previous business trip to the city in 2000 was going to a restaurant with my colleagues and ordering a three meat roast. When the meal arrived, I nearly suffered from a protein overdose by merely looking at it (no photos sadly, long before we had cameras on phones!). The dish consisted of a wooden platter with three huge slabs of meat - beef, pork and mutton - beautifully cooked - but each one would have been enough for two or three people, never mind all three for one person. There wasn't a vegetable in sight! Even now, I still joke to people that the Czech concept of a vegetarian dish is a smaller plate of meat.

Times were changing even in 2000 as the Czech Republic was casting off its shackles of communist rule. Today the city hosts restaurants serving food from every corner of the globe whilst not losing sight of one of the main values of Czech cuisine - big portions and small prices. I've eaten in Afghan, Argentinian, Brazilian, Belgian, Chinese, Indian, and Thai restaurants, and I know of Lebanese, Greek, Turkish, and Spanish places that come highly recommended.

I can't speak for the rest of the country, but Prague has come a long way from the days of food shortages and a dearth of vegetables. Supermarkets and farmer's markets like the ones at Náplavka and Jiřího z Poděbrad have fruit and vegetable stalls with an abundance of familiar and exotic ingredients. I have travelled all around the world and consider myself well versed in epicurean matters, but I regularly find strange looking fruit and veg that I've never come across before. I suspect much of this is due to the influence of the Vietnamese who were invited to settle in the country during the communist era.

No shortage of fruit and veg these days - and the dog isn't on the menu 

But all this talk of foreign food is a red herring (so to speak) because I really wanted to write about some of my favourite local specialities, which I have grown to love and even try and reproduce when I'm back in the UK (to varying degrees of success).

As a visitor to Prague, your first experience of Czech food should be in a proper ‘hospoda’ or pub, rather than a fancy restaurant. After all, when in Rome… This way you’ll get to see a typical selection of classic Czech dishes while you’re enjoying a glass of beer. Not only that, but you’ll get a great meal at a bargain price - as long as you haven’t gone to one of the places in the heart of the main tourist areas (find somewhere a few hundred metres down a back street!). Most places will have menus in English and the translations can be quite amusing, but don’t take them literally. Whippet cream on your strudel does not originate in the genital tract of a racing dog! You may be put off by some of the names of dishes - pork cheek or knee may not sound too enticing to sensitive UK but do not miss out just because it’s not a cut of meat we’d often use at home.

Whippet cream anyone?

Look around you, and you’ll see quite a lot of people eating goulash (Hovezí guláš) a rich, heart beef stew with a distinctive red tint from the most essential ingredient, spicy paprika. It may be served as a soup, with bread dumplings, or in a hollowed out bread loaf. Goulash is usually thought of as a Hungarian dish, but is common across Central Europe, each country having its own slight variation. The main Czech differentiator is the use of marjoram and caraway seeds.

Homemade goulash back in the UK (with potato pancakes)

Bread dumplings (knedlíky) and potato dumplings (bramborové knedlíky) are Czech staples and are great for mopping up the delicious sauces (and soaking up the beer). I’ve made both at home, and while the end results were more than satisfactory, there was an awful lot of mess in the kitchen by the time I’d finished. I suspect most of my Czech friends can make these with their eyes closed.

Potato dumplings are a traditional accompaniment for another Czech classic, Roast Duck (pečená kachna), usually also served with braised red cabbage or sauerkraut. The duck is slowly roasted and the end result is a crispy, spicy and herby skin hiding beautifully moist and succulent meat underneath. There are places in the city specialising in duck, and as you walk in you can see a huge spit roaster with dozens of birds being cooked at a time.

Delicious roast duck at a specialist duck pub

I mentioned earlier some of the pork cuts that are often used in Czech cooking - knee and knuckle being prime examples. Roast pork knuckle (Pečene vepřové koleno) cooked in dark Czech beer may not sound too appetising but it is a sensational dish. The meat is marinated overnight with garlic, mustard, salt, pepper, paprika and caraway rubbed into the skin and then basted with dark beer, allspice and bay leaves before being roasted. These joints can be a little fatty for some people, but the taste is sublime, and the meat falls off the bone and melts in your mouth. The dish is often served on a huge wooden platter, and I never fail to be amused at the look on people’s faces when they see a waiter carrying this enormous serving to the table. It's usually accompanied with some pickled green chilli, mustard and horseradish and chunks of homemade bread. As an aside, horseradish is not reserved for use with roast beef like it is in the UK. You can expect to find it served with beef, pork and sausages, usually freshly grated with a little cream, and packing quite a punch!

Pork knee in dark beer - a modest serving this time

In a later post I'll carry on with some other classic Czech dishes, including some of the more esoteric pub snacks you may encounter.

Dobrou chut! (Bon appétit).

Parks and Recreation - Havlíčkovy sady

In keeping with all the other dichotomies that make Prague such a wonderful place to live and work, the amount of green space in the city means you don't have to go far to find a peaceful park or garden to relax in and get out of the madness of the hubbub. According to the city tourist board, green space accounts for over 20% of the city area. Many of these places are obvious, like the Letná plateau hanging over the city like a backdrop in a theatre or Vítkov hill. Others need to be sought out, like Vojanuvy sady and the Franciscan gardens.

Some of the best green places involve leaving the confines of the Old Town and heading a little further afield. I've written about Vysehrad previously, but in this post, I wanted to write about the first park in Prague that I visited, almost four years ago to the day.

The view from the Pavilion (with my friend Elena)

Having just moved to Prague, I wanted to find somewhere I could go running directly from my flat in Vinohrady, preferably somewhere that didn't involve too much pavement pounding. According to the map, there was a massive park just a couple of hundred yards from my flat, called Havlíčkovy sady (Havlicek Park). So, on my first newbie Sunday, I wandered off in the early chill of an October morning to investigate. There were a few dog walkers around, but the park was mostly empty apart from dozens of red squirrels hiding their stashes ready for the winter. This part of the park was wooded but with plenty of light breaking through the sparse canopy. The paths were wide and well maintained and it was a pleasant walk until suddenly the path appeared to go over a cliff!

From the grotto looking out on the park

Havlíčkovy sady (also known as Grébovka) spans the neighbourhoods of Vinohrady, Vršovice and Nusle. It covers nearly thirty acres (11 ha) of which just over four acres (1.7 h) are vineyards. These vineyards date back to the thirteenth century and give their name to the nearby area now known as Vinohrady. Over the next six hundred years, the vineyards changed hands many times and were owned by Benedictine monks, Jesuits, as well as private landowners. In 1870 the land was acquired by the industrialist Moritz Gröbe who built the Villa Gröbe.

    

This was a monumental summer residence, designed in a neo-Renaissance style, and landscaped into an English style park. Other lavish and self-indulgent features were added for the entertainment of the family and their guests, including an artificial grotto, a casino with a shooting range,  a bowling alley, and chess tables. Gröbe also restored the original vineyards and added an impressive gazebo – which is now protected as a monument. Gröbe’s heirs resented having to maintain the estate and they sold the house and land to the Vinohrady municipality, which opened the park to the public at the beginning of the 20th century, under the name “Havlíčkovy sady”.

The park features over 120 different species of domestic and foreign trees, and 25 species of bird, including 12 which nest in the park. The grotto was constructed by creating artificial rocks from bricks, mortar and cement to resemble stalactites. An observation deck was created and underneath, a fountain and pond, adorned with a statue of Neptune. During the 1970's the area became a shelter for the homeless, drug addicts and underage drinkers and fencing with barbed wire was erected. In 2010 the grotto underwent major reconstruction.

The vineyard still operates on a small commercial basis, producing about 4000 litres of wine each year. The old casino, bowling alley and parts of the pavilion are used for special events, and the gazebo is now a small cafe where you can drink the wine and look out over the vineyards where it originated. And a rather splendid little wine it is!

A splendid little wine! Na zdraví

As for my running - I never did run in Havlíčkovy sady. Going down the steep slopes was one thing but going back up them again wasn't for me! In fact, it was another year before I ran in Prague for anything other than a tram!

Music Maestro, Part 3 (Finale) - People In Prague #2

My first two posts in this Music Maestro series were about native Bohemians; Bedřich Smetana and Antonín Dvořák who were both inspired by the history, culture and beauty of their native lands as well as their national heritage in periods of considerable change and instability. My third choice, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, is inextricably linked with the city of Prague, despite having spent less than a few months staying in the city, and then only for brief periods on each of his five visits.  

Mozart first visited Prague in January 1787 and stayed for about six weeks. His music preceded him, with his opera, The Marriage Of Figaro, having been produced in Prague to roaring acclaim the previous year, 1786, after premiering in Vienna. The production was such a success that the orchestra and several well-off music aficionados funding a visit by the composer to witness it for himself. During this visit, the ‘Prague’ symphony was first performed for his benefit and in the same concert he improvised a piano solo and later claimed that he “counted this day as one of the happiest of his life”. As a direct consequence of the adulation shown to him, his second opera was commissioned by the impresario Bondini.

This second opera, Don Giovanni, was completed in Prague on his second visit. He arrived on October 4, 1787, to supervise the production which was due to take place at the Estates Theatre on October 15 but was delayed until the 29th. Again, it was received to rapturous applause and was the talk of the town.

The Estates Theatre on Železná

Mozart passed through Prague in April 1789 on a trip to Berlin, and on his way back to Vienna in May the same year when he may have stayed for a few days.

His final trip to the city was in September 1791 for the coronation of Leopold II as King of Bohemia. Mozart had written ‘La clemenza di Tito’ for the festivities. He stayed for three weeks between 28 August and the middle of September, but on this occasion played second fiddle to the Imperial Court. He was 35 years old, and he died later the same year in December.

The outpouring of grief on his passing far outweighed that shown in any other European city. In Vienna, he was laid to rest without much pomp or ceremony, in Prague over four thousand people attended his first memorial at St Nicholas’ Church in the Lesser Town. Over one hundred musicians offered their service free of charge to play the Requiem mass. In the following years, citizens of Prague took it upon themselves to provide for Mozart’s widow and children, by helping organise concerts in his memory.

'Cloak of Conscience' Inspired by Don Giovanni

Today, the Estates Theatre still proudly displays its association with Mozart and the inaugural performance of Don Giovanni, and many other places claim their association with the composer, including Strahov Monastery and The Klementinum, both claiming that Mozart played the organ in their chapels.

Mirror Chapel in the Klementinum

where Mozart played the organ

Though his association with Prague was brief and infrequent, Mozart is best remembered for his (alleged) quotation after the successful premiere of Don Giovanni - “My Praguers understand me"

Music Maestro, Part 2 - People In Prague #2

In this continuation of my first Music Maestro post about Bedřich Smetana, the second of my famous musicians associated with Prague is none other than Antonín Dvořák, who is best known in the UK for the music from the Hovis bread advert from 1973 (directed by Ridley Scott!)

Statue of Dvořák in Jan Palach Square opposite the Rudolfinum

Born on 8th September 1841 in Nelahozeves, about 35km north of Prague, Dvořák was the eldest of fourteen children, although only eight of the children survived infancy.  He was taught to play the violin at primary school and at the age of thirteen, was sent to live with his uncle in Zlonice, to learn German. Here he also studied organ, piano and continued to learn the violin as well as music theory.

In 1857, Dvořák travelled to Prague to enrol in the Organ School where he also joined various bands and orchestras as a minor violinist. He left the school in 1859, second in his class. One of the orchestras he joined was taken on as part of the Provisional Theatre orchestra where Dvořák played viola starting in 1862. That same year he began writing his first string quartet.

In 1873, he married Anna Čermáková, with whom he had nine children but three died in infancy. Between 1860 and 1870, he wrote a number of pieces, many of which he destroyed (including his first symphonic efforts), and very few of which received much in the way of public performances or critical recognition. Some of these pieces were not premiered until a century after they were written - the third string quartet first premiered in 1969, and his first opera, Alfred, was not performed in full until 1938.

Dvořák's work began to get traction in Prague in 1873 when his Piano Quintet in A major (Op.5) became his first composition played in a concert. His cantata, The Heirs of the White Mountain, was regarded as 'an unqualified success', but he remained largely unknown outside of Prague. However, at the age of 33, he applied for and won the Austrian State Prize for composition in 1875. He submitted fifteen compositions, including his third and fourth symphonies. Among the jurors for the award was Johannes Brahms.

He entered for the prize again in 1875, 1876, and 1877, winning in both 76 and 77. Once again, Brahms had been part of the jury and he offered to help make Dvořák's work get wider recognition beyond the Bohemian region, and in due course, his music began to be performed in Germany, Britain, France and the US. His music was not so well received closer to home, in Austria, where he fell victim to an under-current of anti-Czech feeling.

In the 1880's Dvořák's work became extremely well-received in England and the US, visiting Britain at least eight times. In 1892 he became the director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York, on a salary of $15,000. Not bad for a musician, who prior to being married, had to live with five other musicians, and who didn't own a piano before 1875. During his time in New York, he began to engage with African-American and Native American music, and in 1893, he was commisioned by the New York Philharmonic to write his Symphony No.9 - 'From the New World' to worldwide acclaim.

After three years in New York, Dvořák was becoming increasingly homesick and returned to Prague to resume his professorship at the Conservatory. He continued to compose, focusing mainly on opera and chamber music. His association with Brahms continued also, and the Austrian tried in vain to persuade him to go and live in Vienna, offering his entire fortune. The Czech remained resolutely in Prague but visited his mentor on his deathbed in April 1897.

Dvořák's grave in Vyšehrad Cemetery

In 1901, Dvořák was made a member of the Austro-Hungarian House of Lords by Emperor Franz Joseph I, but in April 1904 he contracted influenza and died, aged 62, on May 1st 1904. He left many unfinished works behind. He is buried in Vyšehrad cemetery.