Letná

View Letna with the Sparta Stadium (now Generali Arena)

Letna (formerly known as summer mountain or Belvedere) is the field name of a Prague hill north of the city center and often is also the symbol of an increased level, the Letenská pláň ( Letna level) and at the Letenské sady ( Letna Park ) is connected. The height Letna Prague is located in the cadastral and Bubeneč Holešovice. Despite its location close to the center represents this area, not only in the past a popular leisure area, is still largely an open space with changing uses dar.

Location

Letna is a district of Prague, northwest of the city center in the district of Prague 7, which has one of the seven hills surrounding the center. The northern half of Letna Prague is part of the Cadastral ( katastrální území ) or district Holešovice and the northern half of the district Bubeneč, the Ul. Milady Horakove ( Milada Horáková Street ) is the dividing line. The Malá Strana ( Lesser Quarter ) and Hradcany, the adjacent districts in the southwest and west, while the Stromovka Park from the north adjacent to Letna. The Vltava river separates Letna of Prague's Old Town ( Staré Město Pražské ) in the north and the New Town ( Nové Město Pražské ) in the south.

The Park

The Letna Park ( Letenské sady ) is adjacent to the Chotková Park, which is part of the Royal Gardens of Prague Castle. Today it is connected by a bridge over the road Chotkova silnice with the Chotková Park.

The park is located since 1898 as a garden restaurant in the historicist Hanavský Pavilion at the Prague Jubilee Exhibition in 1891 and the prospect Restaurant Praha, which originally stood at the Expo 58 in Brussels.

The Letna Park, despite its location near the city center remains a popular leisure area of Prague's population.

The Meeting

From 1955 to 1962 was the Stalin monument on the Letna height. On the large free area adjoining the gardens and the Communist May Day rallies and military parades of the Czechoslovak People's Army were held until 1989.

During the Velvet Revolution on 25 and 26 November 1989 that was held at the Letna plateau demonstrations in the run-up to the general strike on 27 November, in which more than half a million people took part.

Where 1955-1962 the Stalin monument stood, was erected in 1991 as symbol of change of times a huge metronome that created by the sculptor David Černý. Later it also found major pop concerts take place (about the first concert of Michael Jackson's European tour 1996). Pope John Paul II celebrated here during his pastoral visit in 1990 a field mass.

The football stadium of AC Sparta Praha named Generali Arena, formerly known as Letna Stadium and Sparta Stadium and AXA Arena, is also here in this area.

Traffic History

Since July 18, 1891, the area ( Lanovka na na Letnou LANOVA dráha Letnou or shorter ) has been explored from the Old Town, on the western bank of the Vltava from the Letna funicular. This funicular was from the beginning owned by the City of Prague and was, however, set in the year 1916 in the wake of the power shortage during the First World War back in 1922 and declared definitively closed down. Some years later the railway was dismantled in large part on their route and built a large escalator that was still standing until August 27, 1935 in operation. Thereafter, all plants were finally removed on the grounds. Some remains are still seen today especially in the former hill station.

Directly opposite the mountain station of the funicular railway, the upper terminal built by František Křižík Letna tram was ( Elektrická dráha na Letné v Praze or shorter Letenská elektrická dráha ). She was the first electric tram in Prague and also the first Czech -built electric railway at all. It was opened to the Letna funicular and the Petřin funicular in the context of the Great Jubilee Exhibition in Prague in 1891 on the same July 18, 1891 and 1897 sold to the newly established urban transport companies. The tram wrong until late summer 1900, when it was discontinued and integrated into the lower section in the new urban tram network, while you continue leading top was degraded to the Letna height.

In the years 1949-1951 was built as a replacement for the previous leading up the hill public transport and improved links to the center of Prague with the districts and Letna Dejvice the Letna Tunnel with a length of 426 m.

In 2008, a new tram line was built on the Letna height, which in part follows the old route of the Křižík train from 1891 to 1900. It ends at the newly created Wendeschleife called Špejchar.

Currently open questions

( Pláň Letenská ) For the wide open space there have been several proposals use. Currently, the focus of the debate is the project of a new National Library of the Czech architect Jan Kaplicky, a fiercely debated example of blob architecture. Earlier proposals were, among others, a new large football stadium or an aquarium.