Amusement park in Prague (mostly known under the traditional name ''Lunapark'', which is a common name of amusement parks in Czech), is situated in the territory of the Prague Fairground Výstaviště Praha in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

- Bubeneč, nearby Holešovice. It was one of the few grounds in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

that permanently hosted amusement attractions like

roller coaster A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...

and

ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a big wheel, giant wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondola ...

, however, since 2018, those two permanent attractions were removed and are present only during the funfairs seasons. The park host funfairs in spring and autumn seasons.

Fairs

Matějská pouť ('St. Matthew's Fair') is usually held from end of February to April and Václavská podzimní pouť ('Wenceslaus Autumn Fair') from September to October.St Matthew's Fair
/ref> The Matějská pouť is the most popular and biggest

funfair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

in Czech Republic and host attractions like the Hammer Booster which is 60 meters high and is the highest in Europe and other around 130 attractions. Amusement park is closed from the beginning of November to the end of February.

History

St. Matthew's Fair (Matějská pouť) has very old tradition, which dates back to 1595, originally as the pilgrimage of

Saint Matthew Matthew the Apostle was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. According to Christian traditions, he was also one of the four Evangelists as author of the Gospel of Matthew, and thus is also known as Matthew the Evangelist. The claim of his g ...

to the Church of St. Matthew in Dejvice (history of the church dates to the 10th century). Since then, the tradition of the Matthew's pilgrimages has been developed. The pilgrimage route started near the current Hradčanská metro station of

and led to the Chapel of St.

John of Nepomuk John of Nepomuk (or John Nepomucene) (; ; ) ( 1345 – 20 March 1393) was a saint of Bohemia (a western part of what is now the Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia. Later accounts st ...

, where a parish fair took place. The parish fair gradually moved to the lower sections of the pilgrimage, especially to today's Victory Square (Vítězné náměstí) in Dejvice. During the

First Czechoslovak Republic The First Czechoslovak Republic, often colloquially referred to as the First Republic, was the first Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak state that existed from 1918 to 1938, a union of ethnic Czechs and Slovaks. The country was commonly called Czechosl ...

, approximately a quarter of a million people participated in this pilgrimage. However, the development of Dejvice forced this fair to move from this place in the 1960s. After several places (

Letná Letná is a hill overlooking Prague historic centre and Vltava River just besides Prague Castle. It neighbours Stromovka, the largest park in Prague. The hill belongs to Holešovice and Bubeneč quarters of Prague 7. The main part of Letn� ...

, Modřany,

Břevnov Břevnov () is a cadastral district in the west of Prague, located in Prague 6. The district is home to the Břevnov Monastery (Czech: ''Břevnovský klášter''). On the territory of Břevnov stems Brusnice brook. Břevnov was first mentioned in ...

) the fair permanently moved to Výstaviště Praha in Bubeneč (nearby Dejvice). Secularization of Czech society caused the religious origins of the fairs to be largely forgotten. In the 1990s, the number of St. Matthew's Fair visitors approached one million. The fairground is now run by the Incheba company, the fair by Kočka company, both owned by Kočka family.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Amusement park at the Prague Fairground
Matějská pouť official websitePlanetarium HomepageSea World Aquarium
Amusement parks in the Czech Republic Buildings and structures in Prague Tourist attractions in Prague Prague 7