We don’t have much green space inside the city, one day the problem will start screaming, says Petr Ryska from Prague unknown. He walked the entire capital
The romantic corner of the emergency colony Kotlaska near Palmovka, the cobbled corner under Loreto or even the former Jewish ghetto – these are all places where Petr Ryska, the founder of the project of the same name, takes those interested in unknown Prague.
The native of Petřine was already interested in places that remained hidden from the crowds as a small boy. “Among my favorites to this day are old Veleslavín, Střešovice or old Liboc. In Liboc, there is a church above the pond, and when people skated on the pond, it looked like something from Lad’s picture,” recalls Ryska. On the other hand, he does not like neighborhoods that have become “useless areas” due to chaotic construction over time – according to him, such are the old Radlice, for example.
The outskirts of Prague? It’s worth a trip here
Petr Ryska has all 112 Prague cadastral records at his feet and perceives Prague as an extremely varied set of cities, solitudes and nature in between.
Thanks to the knowledge of the context, I therefore believe that the most pressing problem of the capital city is the many so-called heat islands during the implementation of new developments. “Densely built, for example, in Smíchov, greenery is not taken into account there. There is a lot of greenery in Prague only on the outskirts, not inside. One day the problem will start,” he states in connection with ongoing climate change and planetary warming.
Petr Ryska has been building the Praha Neznámá brand since 2013. However, the path to this love was not entirely straight. “I first studied the urban transport specialization, then I found myself in a bank and at the Directorate of Roads and Highways, which was not quite my cup of coffee. Then I additionally studied tourism and was preparing to work for Czech Tourism, but the situation changed and I did it myself,” he describes. He still planned to study art history, but in the end he preferred practice. He supplemented his knowledge directly in the field and studying literature.
Over the course of ten years, Ryska, in addition to countless walks through Prague, has published five books, and is working on another. She should focus on the area around Anenská Street, Karlín would also like to work on it. Fourth, its revitalization is often talked about only in good terms, but after the floods in 2002 it lost many beautiful and valuable houses.
During his walks around the capital, Petr Ryska is regularly amazed at what this seemingly familiar area has to offer. “Few people from Prague have traveled the whole of Prague, especially the outskirts are unknown to them. We have rocky canyons in the Prokop Valley or Šárka. We don’t even have to go beyond the borders of Prague to see the diversity of the landscape. I’m worth the trip.”