The Černín Gardens

Recently while recently coming back from the airport on a sunny afternoon I decided to stop at the Prague castle. My reason for stopping was to look at the newly opened gardens of Černínský palace. While the palace with it’s almost cubist style facade is a landmark of Czechoslovak history, the gardens have only now been opened to the public during the summer months.

View of the facade

   Although slightly dwarfed by the imposing size of the palace, the gardens, which date back to the 17^th century, are still a very pleasant sight in this part of the city. It is appropriate to use the plural as there are actually two gardens. Thanks to history and the ever changing tastes of the aristocracy there is a very symmetrical French style garden which is contrasted above with an English style landscape park. All this is achieved on a relatively small scale as one can hear the rams rattle on the street beyond.

 A path leading to the folly

The French garden is really the main part faces a grand staircase and is centered around a reflecting pool which leads down to  a fountain and further still to a candy pink folly. Order and symmetry are brought about not only through architecture but also through the perfectly balanced planting and gravel paths ,all is as French as can be.

The pool from the side

The  pink folly at the end of the garden

Just above is the completely relaxed but equally as thought out landscape garden which during our visit provided  welcome shade and an invitation to walk on the grass.

The grass is always greener above

Despite their relatively minute size the gardens are a nice addition to Prague greenery  and a nice stop  when walking around the castle.

A seat with a view

Our  visit was finished with coffee at kavárna  Nový Svět a new  café  in this hidden part of the castle, located in one of the tiny houses typical for the area it has just a few tables but a great window seat in summer overlooking a garden. Along with the castle staple, Maly Budha is was full of locals out on a Sunday walk. We sat outside at a table on the street, enjoying the sunshine while we could. I found the white wine a bit sharp but the coffee was great which is what always counts for me. And although the waiter was not the most welcoming, his colleague made up for it.

Our table on the street

From there we took our bags and caught a tram into town.A nice Sunday interlude.