The New Town (Nové
Město)
By Dana Shanberg
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When
the New Town of Prague was built 600 years ago,
it was meant to serve as Prague's main commercial
district. And that is how it can still be characterized
today. Numerous businesses, hotels and banks are
located there, as well as department stores, boutiques
and a few small shopping malls. The New Town is
also rich with culture, offering many theatres,
movie theatres, museums, and an opera house.
Wenceslas Square is the
bustling center of Nové město and the district
stretches northeast and southwest of it towards
the river. Some other squares are Karlovo
náměstí, Senovážné náměstí, and Náměstí republiky. The
two boulevards that you will not want to miss are Národní
and Na příkopě, both separating the New Town from the Old
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All three lines of the metro run
through the New Town: line A between Můstek and Muzeum,
line B between Karlovo náměstí and Florenc,
and line C between I. P. Pavlova and Florenc.
The New Town was founded
by king Charles IV in 1348 as a large new area between
Vyšehrad and the Old Town. The new district was
to increase the size
and
population of Charles' beloved city in a time when Prague
became the
capital of the Holy Roman Empire. A lot of trade and business
moved there from the already existing Old Town and Malá
Strana.
King Charles planned the street layout of
Nové město himself and personally
kept an eye on the progress of the construction work,
supposedly making sure that his street plan was being followed
to
the letter. The layout was quite modern for that time,
employing large squares and wide boulevards. The three
main squares all served as markets: the Horse Market (Koňský
trh) - now Wenceslas Square, the Cattle
Market (Dobytčí trh) - now Charles Square,
and the Hay Market (Senovážné náměstí) - still
carrying the same name. All three markets were interconnected
by today's Vodičkova and Jindřišská streets.
Although the New Town was originally built
in the Gothic style, much of its current architecture comes
from the end of the
19th
century
when the majority
of the original buildings
were torn down in a sweeping cleanup of the slums into
which the district had turned. New buildings were put up
by the
architects
of the time and the result is a varied mixture of architectural
styles similar to those that can be found in the neighboring
district of Vinohrady.
The heart of the New Town is Wenceslas
Square, which is a good place to start your tour and is
easily reachable on foot from the Old Town and by public
transportation
from anywhere else. To get to the top
of the long square (to the National Museum and
statue
of
St.
Wenceslas),
take line A or C of the metro or tram 11 and get off at
Muzeum. To get to the approximate middle of the
square (near the Lucerna Passage and Hotel Evropa),
take line A of the metro, get off at Můstek and
follow the exit that says Václavské náměstí/Vodičkova (not Můstek),
or take tram 3, 9, 14, or
24
and get off at Václavské
náměstí. To get to the bottom of Wenceslas Square
(for Na příkopě and Národní streets), take line A of the
metro, get off at Můstek and exit at Můstek.
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