As a university student, I already had a few opportunities to take foreign visitors to Prague out of the historical center to a quarter called Žižkov. Žižkov means for young Czechs an alternative place full of pubs, bars, clubs with an authentic atmosphere and non-mainstream music, theater and street events. Žižkov, a former working class district with a rough reputation has turned since the 1960`s into a free-spirited place full of independent art.
Additionally, a walk through Žižkov is an interesting experience from the historical and architectural point of view because you will find several outstanding sights which commemorate important events from Czech history. In my opinion, the most impressive one is the massive constructivist building of the National Memorial with the largest equestrian statue in the world - a bronze statue of one eyed warrior Jan Žižka who fought a victorious battle against Crusaders in 1420. The Prague quarter Žižkov is named after him.
The National Memorial situated right at the top of Vítkov hill is one of the Prague cityscape`s dominant sites, and is visible from almost any point in the city. It was built in 1929-32 to commemorate the birth of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918 but due to Nazi Occupation and Second World War the Memorial was not ceremonially unveiled until 1950. By this time the ideological message and function of the National Memorial itself had changed: now it was supposed to commemorate the Liberation of Prague by the Soviet forces in 1945 and the revolutionary tradition, in suitable communist spirit. The embalmed remains of the first Communist president K.Gottwald were displayed to the public from 1953 until 1962 inside the Memorial and other prominent representatives of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia were buried there, too. After 1989, all of the remains were taken away and National Memorial remained a silent place for over a decade. After 2 years of general reconstruction and rehabilitation, the Memorial was opened to the public in October 2009, simultaneously with the permanent exhibition "The Crossroads of Czech and Czechoslovak Statehood". The exhibition captures important milestones in the 20th century history, which remarkably changed statehood and the ideological view of the state. It is supposed to be the first complex exhibition on this topic which was installed after the Velvet revolution (1989) in the Czech republic....
I have been inside the Memorial a few times already and I am truly fascinated by the retro interiors, the monumental space indoors and the special atmosphere of the passed times when this building was misused by Communist propaganda. For anyone who would like to experience the genuine spirit of Social-realism art, a visit to this place is a must. You will find ideological symbols and reliefs from the communist era basically everywhere because most of them haven`t been removed.....
To make the Memorial more visitor-friendly, the modern "Cafe Bar Vítkov" was opened. Also newly opened is a terrace on the roof of the Memorial with a breathtaking panorama of Prague (unfortunately, every time I`ve been to the Memorial, either the weather was bad or the battery of my camera had run out, so I could not take any pictures....).
Anyway, you can come yourself and see with your own eyes! As a licensed Prague tour guide, I am organizing specialized tours to the Vítkov hill. Accessibility by public transport is a bit limited, so some walking will be required. The tour could be extended for a visit to the futuristic TV Tower which is decorated with 2 meter-tall black babies climbing up and down of the tower. The Babies were permanently installed by a contemporary artist ("enfant-terrible") David Černý in 2001. In Žižkov, we can also visit the New Jewish Cemetery, one of two historic Jewish burial places in the district (the other one is situated next to the TV Tower) which is famous for the grave of Czech-German writer Franz Kafka and other famous writers and artists.
As a matter of fact (and at this point, I am getting back to the first paragraph of this article), being in Žižkov, we should not miss a unique opportunity to sample the beer in one of the local pubs. My favorite one is called "The Shot-Out Eye" (yes - the name refers to the one-eyed warrior Žižka). The Lonely Planet reviewed this popular Czech pub in the following description: "It is a bohemian (with a small 'b') hostelry with a raucous beer garden where the cheap food and beer pulls in a typically heterogeneous Žižkov crowd, ranging from art students and writers to lost backpackers and tattooed bikers". And I have nothing else to add to that...
If you feel adventurous enough, come and join me on a tour to a National Memorial and around the Žižkov quarter. For more info, please contact me on: info@caputregni.cz
quite interesting topic !
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