If you walk along Divadelní Street from the National Theater, you will walk to Smetana’s embankment. But you can also turn left (see the yellow arrow), go through the underpass under the embankment and you are right on the banks of the Vltava.
Those underpasses are called “čapadlo” – originally it was just gaps in the walls along the river, after the construction of the embankment, these passages were built, which allow direct access to the river. They were originally built mainly to catch rafts that came along the river.
In the warm months of the year, people come here for yoga classes, workshops, and concerts. But also for coffee, pizza or brunch. They skate here in winter. And as the price list shows, mulled wine costs 70 crowns, “párek v rohlíku” (Czech equivalent of a hot dog) costs 55 and skates will lend you for 100 crowns. Beautiful view of Prague Castle and Petrin Hill is free.
And when you stop enjoying it, you can climb the stairs right on the embankment and in front of you will be a neo-Gothic monument to František I, also called the Kranner’s Fountain. (Architect Josef Kranner was a co-creator of the completion of St. Vitus Cathedral – the monument is a bit similar to the this cathedral, don’t you think?)
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