Prague 07-2016 View from Powder Tower img4

Na příkopě (literally "On the moat"), informally also ''Na Příkopě'', ''Na Příkopech'' or ''Příkopy'', is a street in the center of Prague, Czech Republic, connecting Wenceslas Square with the Republic Square. It separates the

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

from the

New Town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. It is a place of representative buildings including the headquarters of the Czech National Bank, old palaces and luxurious shops. Na příkopě is the most expensive street among the all states of the V4. In 2019, with the amount of rent 2,820 euros (72,478 CZK) per square meter per year, ranked on 18th place among the most expensive shopping streets in the world.

History

Na Příkopě street leads on the site of former 10-meter-wide and 8-meter-deep

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

from 1234, which led along the medieval walls of the

. Water flowed directly from the Vltava river and when the moat was filled, the Old Town formed a closed island. The moat was covered in 1760. After covering,

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. The unrelat ...

trees were planted here and the street was named ''Ve starých alejích'' (''In old alleys''). In 1845-70 the street was named '' Kolowratská třída'' and since 1871 bears the name ''Na Příkopě''. Because it was one of the few very wide streets in Prague, it soon became a traffic artery. Since 1875, the first line of the Prague horse-drawn tram has been lead here, which has been electrified since 1899. In 1919, Můstek became the first intersection in Prague to be controlled by a traffic policeman. In 1927, then the second intersection with the light signaling (the first being Hybernská-Dlážděná-Havlíčkova intersection). In the 1960s, traffic jams were getting worse. However, in 1978 the

metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

station was opened at Můstek, and Line B followed the street since 1985 for almost its entire length to the Republic Square. Nearly century-old tram line was canceled in 1985 and the bustling urban street turned into a pedestrian zone. On the street appeared many new stores and it became an important business center of Prague promenade.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Na prikope Streets in Prague