The story of Neptune is reminiscent of a Vinohrady detective story with a happy ending
10/07/2022
Photo: MČ Prague 2 (as well as other images in the article)
Description: The statue of Neptune stands again in its place.
“We stood in front of the vivarium, i.e. in front of its remains. Smoke was coming from the ruins of the brick parts of the building, inside were the scattered remains of cages. In answer to all my questions, a kangaroo flashed through the bushes, charging at full speed. A macaque hung from a tree, apparently paralyzed with terror, listlessly clutching a branch. Villa Grébovka seemed to freeze in shock and fall into silence.” It was like that, as Marek Toman writes in his book Neptune’s Cave, a story from Královské Vinohrady.
The vivarium with live animals in Havlíčkové sady (Grébovce) was destroyed in February 1945 by a bomb accidentally dropped from Allied aircraft. Fortunately, she did not hit the statue of Neptune, standing only a few tens of meters away and guarding the water fountain in front of the artificial cave. The sandstone ruler of the sea, created by the sculptor Bohuslav Schnirch in 1875–1877 at the suggestion of Jan Vorlíček, was spared. Still, the place sat empty for decades. The statue was lost and then unexpectedly appeared – the city district of Prague 2 won the Patrimonium Futuro National Heritage Institute prize in the category “monument restoration, restoration” in 2015 for its rescue.
A picture before the reconstruction: the ruins of the artificial cave did have their charm, but fortunately Prague 2 intervened and had the entire space repaired.
The story of Grébovka
But in order: Today’s Havlíček gardens were originally a private garden. He created it in the years 1870-1888 on the lands of several estates of businessman Moritz Gröbe. It was he, a lover of the Italian Renaissance, who built the neo-Renaissance villa bearing his name and the artificial cave in front of which he placed Neptune. In the 20th century, the park was not maintained for a long time, so the Prague 2 district decided to save it and restore it to its former glory. Even with a historic vineyard and a cave with a lookout, a pond, artificial rocks and narrow paths, but it was in a state of disrepair. It required effort, time and money to make Grébovka the pearl of Prague 2 as we know it today.
Installing the originally lost Neptune
Lost Neptune
The neo-baroque statue of the kneeling Neptune was no longer in the park at that time. It has always attracted vandals. Therefore, in the 70s of the 20th century, it was moved to the warehouse of the Prague company Sady, lesy, horadniktví in the Kavčí hory. Over time, the unfortunate Neptune was completely forgotten. It was last seen and photographed in 1997. When consideration was given to returning it to its original location in 2007, it was discovered that it was not in storage. The city district has been searching for the park since it took over its management, in vain. Finally, she posted a reward for finding him, and that’s how she actually found herself. It stood in the garden of the Třebotov fortress near Prague. The city district of Prague 2 got it back from the owner, who acquired it in good faith. At the sculptor Vojtěch Adamec, Praha 2, she arranged for the restoration of the original and the creation of two copies. Since August 2014, visitors to Grébovka can again see one of these copies in front of the grotto (the owner of the fortress took over the second copy).
Original? Since the beginning of January 2015, the statue has decorated the area of the entrance wedding hall on the ground floor of the Novoměstská town hall. Since May 2015 (every Tuesday between 2 and 4 p.m.) the public can view the statue for free. Entrance is through the foyer at the gatehouse.
This is how the grotto looks today, as if from a box.
Disputes do not end
But the statue seemed to attract trouble. In recent years, there have been new disputes, this time purely academic about what it actually represents.
Poseidon, Latin Neptune, son of Titan and Rhea, was the Greek god of the sea. Poseidon’s wife was Amphitrite, daughter of the sea god Nereus. His favorite son was Triton. And according to some experts, this is exactly what the statue in Grébovce represents, because it has Triton’s special attribute, a twisted shell. Triton is the messenger of the sea and resides with his parents in a golden palace at the bottom of the sea. When he blows mightily on the conch, the sea is agitated, when he blows just lightly, the storm calms down. Both Triton and Neptune carry a trident. So maybe there really was a historical mistake. However, in professional literature, this figural sculpture is referred to as Neptune. And that’s how the repaired Grébovka entered the consciousness of beauty lovers.
Posted by: Markéta Vančová