As a matter of fact, there are 5 big hills in Prague, which offer the beautiful views on the city. These are Letna, Prague Castle, Petrin, Vysehrad and Vitkov. And today I am going to visit two of them.
Vysehrad park is located only 2 kilometers away from my apartments. So, I am getting to this place on foot.
After forty minutes of strolling I finally entered this huge complex, which features many parks and narrow streets. By the way, Vysehrad means "upper castle" in Czech. And according to a legend, the castle was the first seat of Czech dukes. Nowadays it is a popular site for recreation and celebrations.
Among the numerous architectural gems of the Vysehrad fortress you may see the Neo-Gothic church called the “Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul”. Inside, you are expected to find the richly decorated interior with ornamental and figural wall paintings in the Art Nouveau style, but I did not get in. Unfortunately, the entrance to the cathedral is not free with the ticket's price of 50 crowns.
Next to the church you may discover a cemetery, where many famous Czech people are buried, including A. Dvorak, K. Capek, B. Nemcova, K. H. Macha, J. Neruda, A. Mucha, M. Ales, E. Destinnova, J. Heyrovsky, B. Smetana.
For me Vysehrad seemed to be boring, and I would prefer spend my leisure time in Letna park, for example. However, you should come to this place specifically because of the beautiful views of the Prague panorama.
Under the walls of Vysehrad I discovered the cafe Kavarna Cekarna at Vratislavova street. This coffee house has such an extremely cozy enclosed court, so you can't miss visiting it.
Later I had a long walking to the Vitkov National monument, located on the Vitkov hill. However, first, I could not but go under this impressive 43 metres high Nusle Bridge, which connects two parts of Prague and has the crucial importance for the Prague's transportation network.
So, Vitkov hill is a little bit off the beaten path, but it holds one of the most amazing views of Prague and its surroundings. It is quite close to the TV Tower, and you also can see the Prague Castle, the Petrin Tower, numerous churches, buildings and bridges from this only spot.
The hill is dominated by a bronze equestrian statue of Jan Zizka, one of the ten largest equestrian statues in the world. They say, that this monument symbolizes power and strong will of the Czech nation.
It was quite a long walking tour around the city, but all taken pictures from the height turned out to be excellent ones.
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