Praguer as a log – the third and last quiz about Prague 12
photo: Petr Kouba, PrahaIN.cz/The Modřanské and Komořanské ponds were originally supposed to protect Prague from flood waves
This address is often understood rather derogatorily, but let’s make it a priority at PrahaIN.cz. A true Pražák knows his forest like a log, where it grows and literally knows something about every tree stump he stumbles upon. So can you also boldly declare that you are a Praguer like a log?
So let’s test your knowledge of the metropolis. This time about the administrative part of Prague 12. These are the cadastral territories of Modřany, Kamýk, Libuše, Písnice, Cholupic, Točné and Komořany. The administrative part of Prague 12 occupies an area of approximately 23 km2, which is almost 4.5 percent of the total average of the metropolis. Approximately 57,000 inhabitants live here, which is also 4.5 percent, but this time of the total population of the capital city.
We have prepared ten questions for you, which will confirm your right to boast the title of Praguer as a log. Have you gathered enough courage? Try to find the answers to the following questions. Let the fact that the test concerns the twelfth administrative city districts be a small hint.
Questions:
1. Do you know the name of the southernmost Prague vineyard?
2. Do you know where in Modřany we can find the house in which the actor Jaroslav Vojta lived?
3. Do you know why the Komořanské and Modřanské pools were created?
4. Do you know how Swedish troops desecrated the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Modran during the Thirty Years’ War?
5. Do you know how high the Modřanská Rokle waterfall reaches?
6. Do you know the name of the largest oak in this administrative part of Prague?
7. Do you know which architect built one of the most valuable villas in Modran – Lorenzova?
8. Do you know which famous architect is behind the design of the viewpoint on the chimney in Modřany?
9. Do you know the name of the Prague part of the Celtic fort Závist?
10. Do you know the name of the up to 15 meter high stone wall that is a geological feature of the Modřanská gorge?
The Archibiskupská vineyard is the southernmost Prague vineyard
Correct answers:
1. Do you know the name of the southernmost Prague vineyard?
Archbishop. We can find it in Modřany. Information about the cultivation of vines here even dates back to 1178. Currently, more than 16,500 bushes are grown here.
Memorial plaque of actor Jaroslav Vojta
2. Do you know where in Modřany we can find the house in which the actor Jaroslav Vojta lived?
In Vojtova Street, in the building with number 770/32. There is also a plaque commemorating the famous actor who lived here for many decades. Jaroslav Vojta stood out as the robber Šárka-Farka in the fairy tales Hrátky s čert, but also as a spoiler of anecdotes, which he often spoiled or distorted.
In the Modřanská and Komoránská túna Nature Reserve, it can be seen that European beavers like
3. Do you know why the Komořanské and Modřanské pools were created?
They were supposed to protect Prague from heavy water. They were artificially built in the 19th century. When a tidal or flood wave came, the river spilled into these pools or overflowed on the opposite bank. In the 1930s, however, the situation began to change. Gradually, the Vltava cascade began to grow and the pools lost their original meaning. Today, they are valuable from a biological point of view, because rare plant and animal species appear here. The ponds were declared a natural monument and the European beaver found its home here.
Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Modřany
4. Do you know how Swedish troops desecrated the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Modran during the Thirty Years’ War?
The army set up a weapons depot here. However, the village of Modřany fared much worse, it was burned down and destroyed, as was nearby Zbraslav. Due to the placement of weapons in the church, the tabernacle had to be rededicated after the Thirty Years’ War.
5. Do you know how high the Modřanská Rokle waterfall reaches?
230 centimeters. The waterfall itself is located on the nameless left-hand tributary of Písnické brook. However, it has been destroyed by erosion in recent years. So the gradual collapse of the bank and the trees. A few tens of meters further downstream, just before the mouth of the nameless stream into the Písnické brook, we find an inconspicuous water cascade on a hard bedrock.
The Memorial Oak in the Graves provides a pleasant space for relaxation
6. Do you know the name of the largest oak in this administrative part of Prague?
Oak in the Graves. The circumference of its trunk is greater than 400 centimeters, and under the tree we find a bench and a resting place. The most interesting thing is the fact that this oak stood on the site much earlier than all the surrounding trees. They were only planted around 1900. The oak in Hroby is at least one full century older.
Lorenzo’s villa
7. Do you know which architect built one of the most valuable villas in Modran – Lorenzova?
Lorenzo’s villa was designed by Václav Bílek. The building is based on the style of utilitarian architecture of the late 1920s. The emphasis here is on symmetry and we can find numerous signs of the architecture of the First Republic.
8. Do you know which famous architect is behind the design of the viewpoint on the chimney in Modřany?
Czech architect of Croatian origin Vlado Milunič. A fifteen meter high chimney climbs out of the local boiler room. This somewhat limits the value of architect Milunič’s construction. For this reason, the viewing platform is only open on certain days.
Typical ragweed in the Šance Nature Reserve locality
9. Do you know the name of the Prague part of the Celtic fort Závist?
Chance. This part of the hillfort covered an area of 15 hectares. They were protected by high ramparts and ditches, which have been preserved to this day. Many archaeological investigations have been carried out on the site. They proved to be inhabited as early as the Bronze Age, and fortifications appeared in these places during the Late Late Period at the end of the 2nd century BC. The largest Czech Celtic fort, Závist, is already located in the Prague-Západ district.
A demonstration of conglomerates in the Natural Monument of Modřanská Rokle
10. Do you know the name of the up to 15 meter high stone wall that is a geological feature of the Modřanská gorge?
Wall of the Dobříšské slepenci. It crosses the Modřanská gorge in one place that cannot be overlooked. It reaches a height of 5 to 15 meters. The wall was created from stone boulders that were originally located in coastal waters, where they were carried by river currents. Later, however, these boulders went down submarine slides into deeper waters, where they combined with fine-grained mud and formed these conglomerates. Later, after the receding of the ancient waters and hardening, this decoration of Modřanská Rokle was created.