Prague’s oldest public park, Chotek Gardens, to undergo major renovations
The Chotek Gardens, Prague’s first public park, will undergo a major renovation and redesign, marking the first improvement of any kind to the historic space in thirty years. Residents and visitors can expect to see the first stages of the renovation as early as next year.
Key improvements will include some new park benches, lighting, picnic spots, and a large viewing terrace to get beautiful views of Prague. In particular, the area surrounding the monument of the Czech writer Julius Zeyer will see a new landscaped area of plants and shrubs. Prague city leaders spearheading the renovation emphasized promoting accessibility and safety — for example, the new bicycling routes are designed to minimize dangerous run-ins with pedestrians and create safer entrances and pathways for bikers — while still maintaining the park’s 19th century character.
The redesign plans come after the Prague Castle Administration and the Institute of Planning and Development of the Capital City of Prague (IPR) held a competition to find architects to see the project through. The winning group was a team of Czech architects, Martina Kameníková and Radek Prokeš from studio Arkytek and Matouš Jebavý. They will start implementing the various renovations earliest by 2027, after which the redesign will take numerous years to complete. The entire renovation is slated to cost about CZK 80 million, which will come completely from Prague’s tourism revenue, according to Pavel Vyhnánek, director of the Prague Castle Administration, so that the money eventually flows back to the city’s tourists and others who enjoy the gardens.
