Letná Gardens & Terrace

Letná is a vast open space between Milady Horáková and the river, with a parade ground to the north and a peaceful park, the Letná Gardens (Letenské sady), in the south, offering picture-postcard views over the city and its bridges. In summer you’ll find an open-air beer garden. In 1261 Přemysl Otakar II held his coronation celebrations here, and during communist times, Letná was the site of Moscow-style May Day military parades. In 1989 around 750,000 people gathered here in support of the Velvet Revolution. In 2008, the far northwestern corner of the park was torn up to build the enormous Blanka Tunnel, part of Prague’s future ring-road system. When completed (anticipated by 2012), the tunnel will lead under both Letná and Stromovka parks. In the southwestern corner is the charming, neobaroque Hanavský Pavilón, built by Otto Prieser for the 1891 Jubilee Exposition. The monumental, stepped Letná Terrace (Letná terása) overlooking the river on the southern edge of Letná Gardens dates from the mid-1950s, when a huge statue of Stalin – the world’s largest – was erected here by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, only to be blown up in 1962 by the same sycophants when Stalin was no longer flavour of the decade. A giant metronome designed by artist David Černý – a symbolic reminder of the passing of time – has stood in its place since 1991.