Prague’s Lesser Town – Malá Strana
View of Prague from the top of Petrin Tower
Maria and the boys decided to have a quiet day in the apartment, so I ventured into town on my own for an afternoon (they’ve been here for a month, so they’ve seen all the sights already). The central, historical part of Prague is separated into 4 neighborhoods – the Castle Quarter, Old Town, New Town, and Lesser Town. I picked Lesser Town as my destination. Compared to the other parts of town, it doesn’t have the grandest attractions, but it offers the most dazzling view of the city (from atop the Petřín Tower). What really drew me to it though is that it also offers the city’s most unusual attractions:
- The Wallenstein Palace Gardens, with its “grotesquery” (an enormous fake cave wall), owls, carp, free-roaming peacocks, and Wallenstein’s fresco of himself as Mars, the god of war. The garden’s Renaissance statues are replicas of the originals, which were stolen by an invading Swiss army in the 17th century (the originals are still in Sweden).
- The small museum of Jára Cimrman – a fictional Czech character – “the genius who is not yet famous” – who is depicted as “…one of the greatest Czech playwrights, poets, composers, teachers, travelers, philosophers, inventors, detectives and sportsmen of the 19th and early 20th century.” A few years ago he was voted the greatest Czech of all time in a Czech Television contest, much to the surprise of Czech TV, which subsequently disqualified him due to his non-existence.
- The moving (and disturbing) Monument to Victims of Communism Who Survived.
- The Lennon Wall – when Lennon was killed, this wall became covered with graffiti celebrating his life and music. It also became a focal point of quiet protest against the communist regime – every day the police would paint it over, and every night it would be covered with graffiti again.
- The Infant Jesus of Prague in the Church of St. Mary the Victorious – it’s a small statue of Jesus as an infant, which one of the Church’s priests said spoke to him once. Since then “claims of blessings, favors and miraculous healings have been made by many who petitioned before the Infant Jesus… Today, thousands of pilgrims pay homage to the Infant of Prague each year.”
A few days later, I visited the Palace gardens again with Maria and the boys, and the boys got in some playtime at the small Kampa playground on the Charles river (so the pictures below are from both outings).
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