Gardens of the World: Czechia – Vrtbovská zahrada / Vrtba Garden, Prague

The Vrtba Garden (Vrtbovská zahrada) you can find – together with three other Baroque gardens (Vratislav, Schönborn and Lobkowicz) – on the slope of the Petřín Hill. It is accessible from the Karmelitská street. It belongs to the most important and certainly the most famous baroque gardens of Prague. Has an area of 0.31 hectares and lies at an altitude of 197 m to 212 m.

The garden was built for Count John Joseph of Vrtba, the Highest Burgrave of Prague Castle, on a former vineyard in the years 1715–20. The creator of the project was well-known Prague architect Franz Maximilian Kaňka (1674–1766). The artistic decoration of gardens is also valuable, sculptures come from the workshop of the Baroque sculptor Matthias Bernard Braun (1684–1738), author of the frescoes inside the Sala Terrena was a painter Václav Vavřinec Reiner (1689–1743).

The garden is created by three terraces, which are connected by stairs. On the lower terrace is a sala terrena with an aviary. In the middle of the terraces can be found smaller fountain with a putti statue. Parterre of the terrace is decorated by broderia, bordered by boxwood and planted annuals.

The main axis of the garden leads from the fountain on the lower terrace to the Grotto in the highest part of the garden. Above the middle terrace is a high retaining wall with a double staircase with conical balustrade, which is decorated with unique statues of ancient gods and reliefs decorated vases. This terrace is planted with symmetric parterre ornament. On the side is a slick bosket shaped by cut, complete with beds of Roses, Hydrangeas and Bergenias.

The upper terrace is covered by grass, with Boxwood hedges, at the top is finished by Teatron with Grotto decorated by shell decorations and mermaids relief.

In 1845 the garden was modified by classicism, between the lower and middle parts of the garden arose originated empire annexes and on the grotte was established the outlook tower. It offers a beautiful view from here on the entire old Prague, especially the Castle and the St. Nicholas Church.
It is certainly also interesting that in the years 1886–89 in Vrtbovsky Palace lived and worked the Czech painter Mikoláš Aleš. In the years 1990–98 passed Vrtbovsky Garden the reconstruction.

These images were taken in Czechia, Prague, 27 6th 2009th.
Translation: Lucie Hrabětová.