Maturitní otázka číslo 9.
Prague and my Town
 500 sq. km, 1 200 000 inhabitants
 the capital of the Czech Republic, the biggest and the oldest city in the CZ
 Prague is divided into many boroughs (10 parts) – the historical centre is made up by the Old Town, Josefov,
the Lesser Quarter, Hradčany, the New Town and Vyšehrad
 Prague is the seat of our President, Czech government, all important state ministries and the Czech Parliament
Introduction
Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic. It lies in the heart of Europe on the river Vltava. It is very beautiful
city with many historical buildings and monuments. It’s sometimes called town with hundred towers because of
big amount of towers (550). Prague is also called Gold Prague. This name is known since 1882 when a Prague
major gave Prague that beautiful name. Many people say that Prague is very romantic. It‘s because of many
medieval constructions – Prague castle, Charles Bridge... It‘s dream for many people to live there. There is very
famous saying connected with it: „V Praze je blaze, ale draze“.
History
 a legend connected with the founding of Prague and Princess Libuše of the Přemyslid dynasty. She prophesised
Prague a great glory, which will touch the stars.
 the oldest settlement of this region dates back 25 000 years
 the first Slavs came there in the 6th century
 during the 11th century Prague became the centre of the economic life, Vyšehrad was the seat of Czech rulers
 Prague became the imperial residence of Charles IV in 14 th century
An archbishopric, Charles University, Horse market (Wenceslas square), cattle market (Charles square) were
founded. Charles IV promoted the construction of St. Vitus cathedral and Charles Bridge...
 in 1419 the defenestration of the councillors from the windows of the New Town Hall took place
 in 1420 Jan Žižka defeated the first anti-Hussite crusade on Vítkov Hill
 in 1618 the Czech estates rose up against the Hapsburgs – these events also marked the beginning of the
Thirty-Year’s War throughout Europe
 in 1918 Prague became the capital of Czechoslovakia
 in 1939 Prague was occupied by German Troops and in 1942 strongly persecuted after assassination of
protector Heidrich
 in May 1945 the Prague uprising against fascists culminated
 on 9th May 1945 Prague was liberated by Russians
 on August 21st 1968 Prague was occupied by the Warsaw Pact Troops (as well as the rest of our republic) in
order to stop democratic reform in the country
 after 40 years of totalitarian depression, on November 17 th 1989, the Velvet Revolution took place there. Huge
demonstrations started on Národní Street.
Places of Interests
Gothic
 The Prague Castle - a residence of the Czech dukes since 9th century, founded by the first Přemyslid Prince
Bořivoj, during the reign of Rudolf II the Castle became a famous centre of arts and culture
- the St. Vitus Cathedral – construction started in 1344, decorated by the famous European artists,
coronation jewels are saved there
- the Royal Palace – Vladislav Hall, Spanish Hall, Golden Lane (a legend connected with alchemists)
 The Vyšehrad Castle - joined with old Czech legends, situated on the bank of the River Vltava, 11 th century
- Vyšehrad Cemetery - with the graves of famous personalities in the sphere of culture, science and politics
- The Church of Saints Peter and Paul – originally Romanesque, now Neo-gothic
 The Charles Bridge - commissioned by Charles IV, - built by a famous Gothic architect Petr Parléř
- the second oldest bridge in Central Europe, 520m long, 10m wide
- there are Gothic Bridge Towers on both ends of the bridge
- in the 18th century the bridge began to be decorate by baroque statues by Matyáš Braun and Jan Brokoff.
- now it’s lively centre of Prague, always full of tourists and stalls
 St. George’s Basilica
Renaissance
 Summer House with it’s Singing Fountain
 some parts of Prague castle – Wallenstein Palace and it’s garden with a beautiful sala terena and with an
avenue of statues (all sculptures were taken away by Swedish Army in 1648)
 the National Theatre - built in the late Renaissance style from the public money collection
- it was damaged by fire in 1881and was rebuilt within the next two years
- the best artist of the 19th century decorated the theatre (M. Aleš, F. Ženýšek, V. Hynais)
Baroque
 St. Nicolas Church
 Loretta
 Statues on Charles Bridge
Other famous places
 Old Town Square – the Astronomical Clock, which strikes every 60 minutes is controlled by a very
complicated mechanism built in the Middle Ages. In the upper part of the horologe a procession of the Apostles
can be seen every hour. The horologe is decorated by 12 outer medallions representing the course of village life,
painted by famous Czech painter Josef Mánes. There are also 12 signs of the Zodiac.
- St. Nicholas Church – designed by K. I. Dienzenhofer
 Wenceslas Square - centre of the city
- the statue of the Czech patron – St. Wenceslas – stand there, made by J. V. Myslbek – it’s
symbol of free and independent republic.
 The Carolinum – the oldest building of Charles University, founded in 1348 as first institution of this king in
central Europe
 The Clementinum - the second largest building in Prague (after the Prague Castle), built in 17 th century
- now it serves as state library
 the National Museum – Czech biggest and oldest museum; zoological, archaeological, historical, …
expositions, at the top of Wencellas Square
 the National Gallery – collection of old world art (German, Italian, Dutch, Czech, … paintings)
 The Powder Gate – built in 1475, one of the thirteen gates of the old fortification system, 65m high
 The observation tower on Petřín hill – 60m high, built in 1891 after the model of the Eiffel Tower in Paris,
today it also serves as a television transmitter tower
Cultural life
Museums, galleries
Many theatres (Smetana Th. Lucerna Hall, Tyl Th. Vinohrady Th. The Semafor, Div. Husa na Provázku, Div. na
Zábradlí, Pyramida, Spirála)
For young: Roxy, Rock café, Bunkr, Malostranská baseda...
A lot of concerts take place there
Seat of 3 main TV channels in CZ
A lot of Sport events: football, ice hockey, basketball
Transport
The biggest problem is pollution, they try to cut down the big amount of cars in the centre, they want to divert
the transport to the surroundings parts
I thing that the public transport is very good, you can get everywhere, you don’t have to wait for so long, it takes
you a lot to get from one to another part of the city sometimes. A lot of busses, trams, underground have three
lanes. No trolley-busses
Lack of parking places. In winter the air is usually very bad.
Ruzyně Airport. It was rebuilt few years ago, it’s quite big but not as big as Frankfurt for example, it’s very
modern. You can get everywhere. It can be compared with modern airports in West Europe
Water transport – I thing it is just a tourist attraction, not very important for industry
Industry
Modern, machinery, chemical, food, textile
Big share of tertiary sphere – tourists – it‘s a job for many people
Famous people of Prague
Princess Libuše, Karel IV, Rudolf II
Mozart – He composed the opera Don Giovany for Prague and said the sentence: „My residences of Prague
understand me.“
Václav Thám The main person of the theatre Bouda from the time of National Regeneration
Many outstanding people like the Pope Jan Pavel II, Prince Charles...
Famous musicians: Michael Jackson, Phil Collins, Robert Miles...
Pop Groups: The Kelly Family, Offspring, Green Day, Metallica, U2, Queen...
Film stars: Schwarzneger, Hasselhof...
HLUČÍN
I live in a small town called Hlučín. It is quite silent and sleepy town between two bigger cities Ostrava and
Opava. Sometimes, in regard of its position, it isn’t that silent town in the middle of countryside as I said.
Hundreds of cars drive through the town every day during the rush hour. A lot of small villages like Bobrovníky,
Darkovičky, Darkovice, Malánky, Kozmice etc. consider to Hlučín. That’s why Hlučín has got about 15 thousand
inhabitants. If you want to travel to Poland it will take you only a half-hour to get to the border. Many people
take advantage of that and very often drive there for petrol or to buy some clothes or food. Because of many big
factories in Ostrava and in Poland there isn’t much clean air there. Sometimes in winter you can smell the
vicious air from Vítkovice or Nová Huť but it couldn’t be as horrible as it seems because we are still fit and
alive.
The name Hlučín probably came from a word ”hlučí” which stands for one sort of plant - hawthorn. Another
tale says that the name came from the first name of one man called “Hulka”. An old legend says that there had
been built a small village earlier then Hlučín. This village was called Dlouhá Ves (Longo Pago) and it was
situated next to the castle Landek. Hlučín grew up close to Longo Pago with Landek in the middle a few years
later. It was established by Přemysl Otakar II about the year 1303. Hlučín was a town from the beginning. It
couldn’t develop from a village because streets in the centre are planned and there also couldn’t be two villages
side by side. Longo Pago had been independent for a long time and in 1911 had been finally added to Hlučín.
This region belonged to The Lands of Czech Crown until 1742. Then it belonged for 150 years to Prussia. From
the year 1919 till today belongs Hlučín and its environs to Czech Republic. There are of course a few interesting
historical places in Hlučín. For example the oldest church in this region. The first mention of the church is from
1378 but it was probably built a few years earlier by one prince of Opava. The rest of the ramparts are also very
interesting. Their construction had been ended in 1534 and it had only two gates. The first gate (Opavská) was
in the west and the second gate (Ostravská) was in the east. The secondary school in Hlučín is also very famous.
Today it is 78 years old and there had studied over 3300 students including famous men like Josef Kainar there.
Hlučín lies on the left side of the river Opava. Next to the river is the lake Štěrkovna that is used in summer
as well as in winter. In summer it is a great place for water sports. You can hire the boat, treadle or waterscooter. You can do water-skiing or bungee jumping. Every year there is a championship in driving motorboats
there. In winter it is a suitable place for skating and playing ice hockey. By the river you can do canoeing. In the
centre of Hlučín there are tennis courts, football stadium and volleyball courts. Next to the stadium there is hall
with sauna and fitness centre. There are plenty of small villages round Hlučín and it is interesting to visit them
on a bike. As for culture there is a cinema and a rebuilt palace of culture there.
I have never thought how my hometown is divided. It could be divided into three parts. The first part is the
centre including small square, town hall, small gallery, library, supermarket, covered market and plenty of other
shops. The neighbourhood OKD could be the second part. In the past it was home for many people working
bituminous coal mines in Ostrava. It has got its own small centre with supermarket, pub, primary school and of
course shops. OKD is surrounded with lots of small gardens that usually consist of a few square meters of land,
small hothouse and small hut. The majority of people living in OKD spend there whole their free time. The third
part of the town creates Rovniny. Rovniny is a modern quarter with very well furnished primary school and
supermarket.
Hlučín isn’t a big industrial centre. The most of people work in Ostrava so they have to travel 11 kilometres
to work and back every day. But there are some small institutions in Hlučín too. People work in the saw-mill,
silo, printing station or bakery but the majority of people working in Hlučín work in services: shops,
supermarkets, banks, car-services etc. There is one more big attraction here. You probably know the system of
big shops specialised on garden apparatuses called Mountfield. I thing there are only 14 shops in our republic
and one of them is in Hlučín.
What I like and dislike in my town? I like that it isn’t as big as Ostrava or Brno and as small as for example
Darkovičky. It is something between village and city. It isn’t as boring as a village and as noisy and dirty as a
city. I thing there should be more services here. If there is for instance only one sport-shop in town there is no
competition there. There should be also more parks and trees in the centre. All the round the town there are
some woods but in the town there are only two or three parks and that’s all. Cleaning services should be also
more active. All in all Hlučín is a nice town. People are used to life here and they probably don’t want to change
it. You don’t believe? So don’t wait and visit it. If you really want to see the positives of Hlučín you will
definitely see them but if you want to see the negatives of that town you will probably see them too…
PETR CZEKAJ, V.