Žižkov is a cadastral district of Prague, Czech Republic. Most of it lies in the municipal and administrative district of Prague 3. Žižkov used to be an independent city until 1922. The district is named after Hussite leader Jan Žižka. It was historically a working class district, and was sometimes referred to as "red Žižkov", because so many of its inhabitants were members of the Communist party. Before World War II it had a reputation as a borough with rough and dodgy inhabitants. This reputation spread across the whole former Czechoslovakia and it was still possible to trace it amongst the people many decades later. The Žižkovians were very proud of their "bad" reputation and up to this day they tend to refer to their neighbourhood as "Žizkov republic".
Today, Žižkov is undergoing a mini-urban renewal, with many older dilapidated buildings being reconstructed and restored. Due to its specific atmosphere it became the Bohemian part of Prague with lot of artists living or performing there. Famous poet and nobelist Jaroslav Seifert was born and spent most of his life there. Žižkov is said to have the highest number of pubs per capita of any city district in Europe.
Rising like a futuristic space ship above the old working class quarter of Zizkov, is one of Prague's
most interesting, if controversial, buildings - Zizkov TV tower. The TV tower is, at 216 metres, the tallest
building in the city, and they say on a clear day it can be seen from a full 100 kilometres away. Often regarded
as a relic of the communist era, Zizkov TV tower wasn't actually completed until ten years ago, in 1992.
The lift in the Zizkov TV tower goes at an incredible 4 metres a second, and has two stops, a restaurant at
66 metres and a look-out deck almost 30 metres higher. The height of such a building allows for a panoramic view.
The view of the historical and most attractive parts Prague is both unusual and really interesting. When you sit
in the viewing cafe or the higher lookout cabin, in front of you there is a classic vista from Vysehrad to Bohnice,
and the view of Prague Castle is simply ideal.
You can see the amazing view from the TV tower in gallery.
When Prague was a European City of Culture in 2000, the young Czech sculptor David Cerny put up around a dozen statues of huge black babies on the tower. The popular statues were taken down but have since been put back, and are due to remain in place for 10 or 20 years.
The Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord (Kostel Nejsvetejsiho Srdce Pane) is located in the very pleasant square and gardens of Namesti Jiriho z Podebrad. The Jiriho z Podebrad metro station access comes up in the corner of the square. The church, by Slovenian architect Josef Plecnik, was completed in 1932, so is 'modern' compared to the majority of Prague's churches. It's most noticeable feature is the clock tower, with it's enormous transparent clock. Constructed mainly of brick, the outside of the church is attractive and has been tastefully decorated. Inside, the brickwork has been mirrored and is simple in it's decor. It is a very serene and pleasant place to spend a few minutes of reflection, no matter what your religion.
FK Viktoria Žižkov ranks among the oldest football clubs in the Czech Republic. It was founded by group of students in
1903 in the city of Žižkov (since 1922 part of Praha). Viktoria's main successes fall into the period between the world wars
until — until 1948 it was the third most successful Czechoslovak club. After the second world war and the beginning of communism
in 1948 it descended to the lower leagues where it remained until 1993 when it returned back to the highest league. Viktoria
achieved many successes between 1993 and 2003. It was the winner of the national cup in 1994 and 2001 and it played European
cups during four seasons. In 2004, after very poor results and a corruption scandal it descended again to the second league where
it remains until now. Viktoria is the Czechoslovak champion from the year of 1928.
Architectural dominanta of Žižkov is new-gothic style Church of St. Prokop. The church stands on Sladkovskeho square (near Seifertova Street). Foundation-stone was built by cardinal František Schönborn in 1898. Josef Mocker, Bohemian architect and restaurator, that worked in a purist gothic style was responsible to restoration of Church of St. Prokop.
Saint Prokopius was a hermit and founder of the monastic community and monastery with Byzantine – Cyrillic-Methodian tradition (liturgy and monastic rules). He lived by faith in the word of God and due to his holy life and death was canonized. In Sazava he cast out demons and healed in the name of the Lord Jesus. Through his intercession God is doing so even today.
Jára Cimrman is a Czech fictional character created by Jiří Šebánek and Zdeněk Svěrák. He is presented as one of
the greatest Czech playwrights, poets, composers, teachers, travellers, philosophers, inventors, detectives and sportsmen
of the 19th and early 20th century. Cimrman made his first appearance on a regular radio programme Nealkoholická vinárna
U Pavouka ("Spider's Non-alcoholic Wineroom") on December 23, 1966. Although he was originally meant to be just a caricature
of the Czech people, history, and culture, he became an immensely popular character of modern Czech folklore, and an artificial
national hero.
Some listeners considered it humorous, some asked a punishment for those who tried to deceive people, and others (at least in the beginning) believed. In 1967 Jiří Šebánek together with Miloň Čepelka, Ladislav Smoljak and Zdeněk Svěrák founded the Jára Cimrman Theatre. The first play was called Akt ("The Nude"). Jiří Šebánek later left the theatre and in 1980 founded Salon Cimrman. People from the Jára Cimrman Theatre and Salon Cimrman call themselves Cimrmanologists and pretend to be enthusiastic scholars who explore and analyse the Cimrman's life and work. Their findings have been presented to the lay public in a variety of ways. Lectures on Jára Cimrman followed by a dramatization inspired on the scholars' discoveries have been very popular in the Jára Cimrman Theatre, while Salon Cimrman focuses just on lectures.
Cimrman is a major character or the putative author of a great number of books, plays, and films. The Jára Cimrman Theatre in Žižkov is one of Prague's most frequented theatrical houses.
In 1919 Vysoká škola obchodní (The Commercial College) was established as a department of Czech Technical University in Prague specializing in wholesale trade, banking and the organization of industrial companies. Then in 1949 the Vysoká škola politických a hospodářských věd (University of Political and Economic Sciences) was established but was renamed to Vysoká škola ekonomická in 1953. From 1990 to 1991 after the "Velvet Revolution" the VŠE experienced a general reorganization. In 1998 the VŠE became a full member of CEMS (Community of European Management Schools). The VŠE became a full member of PIM (Partnership in International Management) in 1999.
The University of Economics, Prague (Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze) is the leading university in the field of
management and economics in the Czech Republic. The University of Economics, Prague has six faculties - five in Prague
and one in Jindřichův Hradec in South Bohemia. VŠE is composed of about 15 500 students who are served by more than
650 academic staff as well as about 500 non-academic staff. Sixty-one percent of VŠE professors have doctoral degrees
in their field.
University of Economics cosists of:
The statue of Winston Churchill stands on the square in front of the main entrance of the University of Economics.
Winston Churchill Square is the youngest Žižkov square, as concerns the tittle. It was named in 1990 for a honour of British
statesman and prime minister Winston Churchill. In 1999 his statue, work of Ivor Robert Jones, was put up on the square.
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (1874-1965) was an English statesman, soldier, and author, best known as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. Well-known as an orator, strategist, and politician, Churchill was one of the most important leaders in modern British and world history. He won the 1953 Nobel Prize in Literature for his many books on English and world history. Sir Winston Churchill was voted the greatest-ever Briton in the 2002 BBC poll the 100 Greatest Britons.
General Pensions Institute building
Projected by Karel Honzík. From 1928 to 1936 he worked with Josef Havlícek, with whom he designed a number of Functionalist projects including the koldom (‘collective house’, 1930; unexecuted), a type of low-cost residential building. Their best-known work is the General Pensions Institute building (1929–34), Prague, one of the most important examples of Functionalist architecture in the Czech Republic (now the House of Trade Unions). It was designed on a cruciform plan with slender rectangular blocks incorporating horizontal strip windows.
First there was the mythical-proportion victory of the Czech Hussite rebels over Europe's best,
the Crusaders in 1420. The Hussites were led by the one-eyed landless squire-warrior Jan Žižka who led them
on this occasion to defend themselves in the Battle At the Vítkov Hill. A few centuries later the hill was
referred to by the locals as Žižkaperk, i.e. Žižka Hill (from the German "Berg").
By the end of the nineteenth century, as the intensity of the Czech nationalist sentiments and desire for
independence rose toward their peak, Žižkaperk was just "a bush-covered hill where the independent municipality
of Žižkov meets Karlín and Prague." However, in 1882 Association To Erect Žižka Memorial was established.
In 1913 proposals were solicited to enter a competition for a winning memorial design to adorn the top of the hill.
"The competition became part of the history Czech graphic arts, sculpture and architecture. .... First place was not
awarded. By the same token, the honor of taking the second place was bestowed on three proposals. .... None of them
were ever used even in part." The Czechoslovak Legionnaires developed an idea of a National Monument as a backdrop
to the Žižka Memorial. 
On November 8, (anniversary day of the battle) of the year 1928 (ten years after Czechs and Slovaks had gained their independence), the cornerstone for the eventual National Monument At Vítkov was laid instead of the originally intended Žižka Memorial. Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, "President - Liberator", broke the ground, although he "refused the idea that he would buried here" one day. The project was the work of a Czech Legionnaire from the Russian front, Jan Zázvorka, and his associate, Jan Gillar. In 1932, Bohumil Kafka responded to a request and tendered a proposed design for the equestrian memorial to Jan Žižka. In five years he produced a life-size model an had the mold ready in 1941, having finished it while his homeland had already been occupied by the German invaders. Yet, the statue was cast from the mold only after World War II had ended and Kafka had passed away. "It was ceremoniously unveiled on July 14, 1950, under altogether different circumstances, in a different ideological context. The previous, religious concept of Žižka, as it appeared in the 1913 competition was replaced by an interpretation of him as a leader of a plebeian revolution. Times have changed." For those who don't remember, in February 1948 the Communists assumed and quickly solidified power in Czechoslovakia.
Unlike the statue, the work on the unfinished National Monument was interrupted by the German occupation of Czecho-Slovakia in 1938. The German National Socialist (a.k.a. Nazi) armies of occupation "misused the Monument as a military material warehouse". When the Czechoslovak Government took the Monument over after the war it was "in a sorry shape. Although the concept of the facility remained more-or-less the same, it was given an added role of honoring the dead of the just-ended war. It became the new venue for the Grave of an Unknown Soldier; the original site in the Chapel of the Prague Old Town City Hall was desecrated and destroyed by the foreign forces of occupation. In 1953 an Annex was added that became The Hall of the Soviet Army. ... In 1955 it was opened to the public in the current, paradigmatic form of pure socialist realism." The main building was also undergoing changes and additions, while "the word 'liberation' was infused with a different meaning". It did not refer to the liberation of Czechs and Slovaks from the 300 years of Germanic domination under the Habsburg dynasty, in which the Czechoslovak Legions played an important part. Instead, it was to mean liberation from the German occupation by the Russian-dominated Soviet Union that turned Czechoslovakia quickly into its own vassal state. "The history of the Czech Legions evaporated from the facility only to be replaced by celebration of class warfare and the proletarian working class."
The original idea of the Monument serving as a mausoleum was revived, although with a pagan twist in a demonstration of servility of the Czechoslovak Communists to their Soviet "teachers". Instead of making it a place of internment for the Legionnaires, the local lackeys inspired by their Moscow masters decided in 1953 to turn it into a venue for the public display of the embalmed remains of Klement Gottwald.
The statue is 30' high, 31' long and 16' wide, weighing 36,376 lbs.
Jan Žižka (1360 - 1424), Czech general and Hussite leader, follower of Jan Hus, was born at Trocnov in Bohemia, of a family which belonged to the gentry. He took part in the civil wars in Bohemia in the reign of Wenceslaus IV. Legal records from 1378 mention Jan Žižka z Trocnova, hinting that if the nick-name žižka meant one-eye, early chronologer Aeneus Sylvius Piccolomini, Pius II was correct in stating the loss of the eye was the result of a childhood fight. Žižka fought in the Battle of Grunwald (July 15, 1410), where he defended Radzyń against the German Knights. He was from his youth connected with the court, and held the office of chamberlain to Queen Sophia. Žižka is known for converting many farming implements into weapons. He did this because many of his soldiers were peasants.
Žižka took a large part in the organization of the new military community and became one of the four captains of the people (hejtman) who were at its head. Meanwhile Sigismund, king of the Germans and king of Hungary, invaded Bohemia, claiming the crown as the heir of his brother Wenceslaus. Menaced by Sigismund, the citizens of Prague entreated the Taborites for assistance. Led by Žižka and their other captains, the Taborites set out to take part in the defence of the capital. At Prague Žižka, and his men took up a strong position on the hill then known as the Vítkov, on the spot where Žižkov, a district of Prague, now stands. At the end of June 1420 the siege of the city began, and on July 14 the armies of Sigismund made a general attack. A strong German force assaulted the position on the Vítkov which secured the Hussite communications with the open country. Mainly through the heroism of Žižka, the attack was repulsed, and the forces of Sigismund abandoned the siege. (A huge monument was erected on the top of the hill to honor Jan Žižka. The statue has Žižka sitting on the largest horse statue in the world. It is 9 meters or over 27 feet tall.) Shortly afterwards (August 22, 1420) the Taborites left Prague and returned to Tábor.
St. Cross hill is connected with the Parukarka Complex. The Zizkov habitants call this place "Na Krizku" (On the Cross). According to the legend, there were the place of execution, but several experts of history negate this legend. At this time a specific pub with a extraordinary view of Prague. That is why the children and dogs run arough it on nice days. In the surrounding we can see a nice grassy ground, children play-ground, and benches. The hill is situated among streets: Olsanska, Lupacova, Jeseniova. You can visit pub, which is situated on this hill with a beautiful view of Prague.
Saint Roch was a Christian Saint, who was born at Montpellier, France, about 1295. A confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August. He is specially invoked against the plague.
Coming to Italy during an epidemic of plague, he was very diligent in tending the sick in the public hospitals at Acquapendente, Cesena and Rome, and is said to have effected many miraculous cures by prayer and the sign of the cross and the touch of his hand.
Numerous brotherhoods have been instituted in his honour. He is usually represented in the garb of a pilgrim, with a wound in his thigh, accompanied by a dog carrying a loaf in its mouth.
Olšany Cemetery (Olšanské hřbitovy in Czech) is the largest graveyard in Prague. The Cemetery falls into the Žižkov
district but the main entrance is from Vinohradská street.
Take metro A to Flóra or Želivského (the entrance is roughly between the two) or tram 5, 10, 11 or 16 to Olšanské hřbitovy.
The cemetery was established in 1680, originally for the victims of the plague. Over a million people are buried there.
Some of the famous personalities of Czech history who have their graves there are linguist Josef Jungmann, journalist and poet Karel Havlíček Borovský, writer Karolína Světlá, playwrights and actors Jan Voskovec & Jan Werich, and the student Jan Palach who lit himself on fire on Prague's Wenceslas Square in 1969 in protest against the Soviet invasion.
The new-baroque building on Havlíčkovo square is the Town hall of Prague 3. It was built in 1889-1890. In this townhall has a second wedding ex-president of Czech Republic Václav Havel.
The cultural complex, consisting of an independent theatre, a concert hall, a cinema and an exhibition space and
called The Akropolis Palace, has for over half a decade been contributing to the wealth of cultural life in Prague.
Palac Akropolis is becoming well known also outside Europe and is often described as a cosmopolitan place with an
original atmosphere which can reputedly help people find and understand the Czech identity.
The project was developed by "Centre of Independent Culture" founded in 1991. The agency undertook the general reconstruction of the pre-war Akropolis theatre - which was closed to the public and abandoned in 1948 and had since been deteriorating - and re-opened the theatre in 1996. Once a unifying artistic spirit was found, the main effort focused on perfecting and uniting the functional and aesthetic particularities of the construction into a harmonious complex.
The successful reconstruction of the theatre was followed by the reconstruction of all other interior spaces. Several new interiors were created in areas previously inaccessible to the public. By 1993, the once ordinary residential building was recognised as a cultural monument of the Zizkov quarter, attracting an ever greater and more varied public, both Czech and foreign.
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