Vitkov (Vitkov Hill) (Prague)

Czech Republic / Prag / Prague / U Pamatniku, 1900
 memorial, mountain, park, hill, memorial hall
Vitkov Hill, with its famous memorial and nine-metre tall equestrian statue of Hussite leader and commander Jan Zizka, who gain the victory over Crusaders sent to destroy the Hussites’ movement. The battle took place on the Vitkov Hill in Prague on 14 July 1420. To commemorate Jan Zizka’s victory, the Prague quarter is named after him (Zizkov, Zizkaberg) and an equestrian statue by Bohumil Kafka was erected in 1950. The memorial is one of Prague's most instantly recognizable sites, from large mass of marble and granite overlooking the city. But it is also one of Prague's more enigmatic destinations, a memorial to statehood imbibed with unexpected layers of meaning following a number of dark twists in Czech history, the most damning being the Nazi occupation in 1939 and later, 1948 communist putsch.

U Památníku 1900, 130 00 Praha 3
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   50°5'24"N   14°27'22"E

Comments

  • Home to a bunker - http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB372/docs/Underground-Doc2.pdf
This article was last modified 12 years ago