The municipal district of Prague 5 lies on the left bank of the Vltava next to the historic core of Prague. According to the district's website, it is among the largest in Prague both in area, at 27.49 km², and in population.[1]
Location and territory
The Hunger Wall, a preserved medieval fortification, separates it for the most part from the historic core of Prague. Settlement of the territory is attested by finds from as early as prehistory. The fifth municipal district is formed by Smíchov, Košíře and Motol, together with Hlubočepy, Radlice and Jinonice-Butovice, to which is added the southern projection of Malá Strana known as Újezd.[1] The territory is varied. It contains street-front development and villa quarters, smaller housing estates and new residential complexes, as well as factories and several protected natural areas. The territory is also typified by summer palaces and former farmsteads standing in gardens. The terrain is divided by several parallel valleys through which streams flow into the Vltava. The coat of arms of the district is based on the adapted original coat of arms of Smíchov.[1]
Smíchov
Smíchov is the central part of Prague 5. It is first mentioned, perhaps, at the end of the 13th century. The Zbraslav Chronicle mentions it in connection with the coronation of Wenceslaus II, for which a wooden palace was built here for the coronation banquet. The name Smíchov first appears in 1406 in the manorial court registers.[1] From the Middle Ages the greater part of the territory was occupied by vineyards and hop gardens, together with farmsteads, fields and church gardens, and mills stood along the Vltava. From the end of the 16th century, especially during the stay of Rudolf II in Prague, Prague burghers and nobles established summer palaces in gardens here. At the end of the 17th century part of Smíchov passed into the possession of the Schwarzenberg family.[1]
In the 18th century several manufactories arose, and from the beginning of the 19th century Smíchov was transformed. Gardens and summer palaces gave way to factories, and Smíchov acquired the nickname "the Manchester of a hundred chimneys". It became a suburb, the second oldest in Prague, in 1838. It was declared a town in 1850, which was confirmed retroactively only in 1903. It has had its own self-government since 1848. The town hall from the second half of the 19th century still stands on Štefánikova třída, and opposite it stands the Church of St Wenceslas. Building activity peaked in the last decade of the 19th century, and at the beginning of the 20th century the centre shifted to today's náměstí 14. října, where on the site of the original botanical garden a market hall and the Národní dům were built, both Art Nouveau buildings.[1]
Košíře
The first record of Košíře dates from 1185. In the Middle Ages the land belonged to the Church and the royal chamber. Under Charles IV vineyards of Prague burghers were established here. The village later belonged to various noble families and partly to the office of the Highest Burgrave. War devastation in the 18th century destroyed almost all the vineyards. In the 19th century the population grew and several factories arose. In 1851 Košíře was annexed to Smíchov, from 1859 it was again an independent municipality, and in 1896 Košíře became a town with a coat of arms and its own town hall. The latter still stands on Plzeňská třída.[1]
Chronology
- — Prague city councillors took note of a plan to set up a Mental Health Centre for Seniors in the Mrázovka villa in Prague 5, to be used by the municipal organisation Palata. Pražský patriot Pražský deník