Petřín () is a hill in the centre of

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 ...

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 ...

. It rises 327 m above sea level and some 130 m above the left bank of the Vltava River. The hill, almost entirely covered with

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

s, is a favorite recreational area for the inhabitants of Prague. The hill (in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

known as ''Laurenziberg'') is featured prominently in

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

's early short story "

Description of a Struggle "Description of a Struggle" () is a short story by Franz Kafka. It contains the dialogues "Conversation with the Supplicant" ("Gespräch mit dem Beter") and "Conversation with the Drunk" ("Gespräch mit dem Betrunkenen"). Origins "Description of ...

" and briefly in Milan Kundera's novel ''

The Unbearable Lightness of Being ''The Unbearable Lightness of Being'' () is a 1984 novel by Milan Kundera about two women, two men, a dog, and their lives in the 1968 Prague Spring period of Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak history. Although written in 1982, the novel was not publ ...

''. The chronicler

Cosmas Cosmas or Kosmas is a Greek language, Greek name (), from Ancient Greek Κοσμᾶς (Kosmâs), associated with the noun κόσμος (kósmos), meaning "Cosmos, universe", and the verb κοσμέω (to order, govern, adorn) linked to propr ...

describes Petřín as a very rocky place, the hill is allegedly called Petřín because of the large number of rocks (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: petra). Since ancient times,

stones In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

were dug and were used to construct buildings in Prague. Medieval defence wall, the Hunger Wall was built on Petřín Hill during 1360 - 1362, by the order of

king of Bohemia The Duchy of Bohemia was established in 870 and raised to the Kingdom of Bohemia in Golden Bull of Sicily, 1198. Several Bohemian monarchs ruled as non-hereditary kings and first gained the title in 1085. From 1004 to 1806, Bohemia was part of th ...

Charles IV. The

Petřín Lookout Tower The Petřín Lookout Tower () is a steel-framework tower tall on Petřín Hill in Prague, built in 1891. It resembles the Eiffel Tower and was used as an observation tower as well as a transmission tower. Today the tower is a major tourist attr ...

, which strongly resembles the Eiffel Tower, was built atop a hill in 1891. Other sights include the Rose Garden, Mirror Maze, Cathedral of Saint Lawrence, and St Michael Church. The summit of the hill is linked to Prague's

Malá Strana Malá Strana ( Czech for "Little Side (of the River)", ) or historically Menší Město pražské () is a district of the city of Prague, Czech Republic, and one of its most historic neighbourhoods. In the Middle Ages, it was a dominant center o ...

district by the

Petřín funicular The Petřín funicular () is a funicular railway in the Czech capital city of Prague. It normally links the Malá Strana district with the top of Petřín () hill, and is operated by the tramway division of Prague Integrated Transport, the local ...

, a

funicular railway A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite ends ...

that first operated in 1891.

Main sights

Petřín lookout tower The Petřín Lookout Tower () is a steel-framework tower tall on Petřín Hill in Prague, built in 1891. It resembles the Eiffel Tower and was used as an observation tower as well as a transmission tower. Today the tower is a major tourist attr ...

* Hunger Wall * Mirror Maze * Rose Garden * Štefánik's Observatory * Strahov Stadium * St Lawrence Cathedral * St. Michael the Archangel Church (wooden church from the second half of the 17th century in Boyko style, transferred from Subcarpathian Ruthenia in 1929) * Memorial to the Victims of Communism

References

Mountains and hills of Prague {{Prague-geo-stub