He was the pride of Prague, now it is overgrown with jungle – eXtra.cz
Barrandov terraces were among the most famous places in old Prague. The complex, which was built by the American Václav Havel Sr. on the model of garden restaurants, is now undergoing extensive reconstruction. However, the building, which will probably not be reconstructed, is the famous Barrandov swimming pool, which is located directly below the terraces in the immediate vicinity of the Vltava. During the First Republic, cream used to meet there, now it is probably doomed to extinction. The eXtra.cz editorial staff went there to see.
Many famous films took place here, for example Vladislav Vančura partially located the film here Before maturity from the thirties. With the notorious Barrandov terraces, a garden restaurant with a relaxation zone, the pool was connected by a cable car that overcame tens of meters of height difference. Everyone went to the terraces – from ordinary Praguers to then movie starswhich filmed in studios just a few hundred meters away. This can be seen from the period videos that can still be found today Youtube.
But the pool was not as luxurious as the restaurant above it. Forget water heating – the reservoir was filled directly from the nearby Vltava and you can certainly imagine that it wasn’t exactly warm. Nevertheless, it was almost full. There was also a building with changing rooms, a small grandstand for the needs of spectators of swimming competitions and a number of smaller decorative lakes. The original appearance of the pool is great to see on the web barrandov1928.cz.
The swimming pool in Barrandov is falling into disrepair
After the beginning of the communist regime, there was a great decline for the terraces and, unfortunately, a similar fate befell the swimming pool. It was definitively closed in 1966 and has been falling into disrepair ever since. When we get to the place, it’s overgrown, there is almost nothing left of the buildings and grandstands, and vegetation abounds everywhere, which is gradually being taken back. In the paddling pool, roots grow and jumping the bridge only takes the last moment of time. Next to the pool, the caravan has homeless people, who paradoxically keep the place at least so that the pool is not completely forgotten.
While the Barrandov Terraces are undergoing renovations, the pool is just falling into disrepair and it is in the stars whether he will ever regain his lost glory. However, the current situation is deplorable, and if the renewal of the pool were to be considered, a new one would have to be built in practice. But maybe swimmers will return under the notorious rock.
