The line between Žižkov and Vysočany

Location: corner park near tram stop “Žižkovská vozovna”

The northern dominant of this place is the school complex accommodating secondary, primary school and kindergarten, all of which are called “Pražačka“ to commemorate the homestead no longer in existence. It was located a bit further away, in the northern section of the Ohrada junction, in the middle of the Pod Krejcárkem Street. Apart from the schools, the name is used also by the Pražačka local district and the Pražačka Street. The schools, built in the 1920’s in the Functionalist style, opened in 1930; there were 2 elementary and 2 primary schools for boys and girls, and a kindergarten. The buildings offered an after-school club, library with a study accessible to the public,  a doctor’s office, showers for the pupils and a janitor’s apartment. The tragic events of the Prague Uprising in May 1945 in and around the buildings are commemorated by a plaque on the grammar school building and a memorial in the yard of the primary school. Next to the schools, there is the Pražačka Sports and Recreation Centre funded by contributions from the Metropolitan District of Prague 3 which offers a broad range of sports fields, a new outdoor pool, indoor and baby pools. A modern all-year-round campsite adjoins the complex.

On the opposite side of the Koněvova Street, eastwards from city centre, the tram tracks turn to the Žižkov Depot which started operation on April 28, 1912 under the name of Vápenka – the second oldest to be still in operation, right after the Strašnice Depot. The track system in the Depot was reconstructed in 1927 and the building itself was refurbished in 1961. Since 1993, the Depot has had its own carriage washer. It is the only Depot in Prague to have a turnaround in the yard. 

Further on towards north-east, on top and northern slope of a long hill, there is a territory called “the Balkans” locally; it is mainly in the cadastral territory of Vysočany and partly of Žižkov. The area is roughly delineated by the Na Balkáně, Spojovací and Odlehlá Streets. The name also features in the street names Na Balkáně and Pod Balkánem. The Na Balkáně Street originated in 1925 during the construction of a family house colony by the Domov cooperative. In the subsequent construction further to the east, the street was extended all the way to the Třešňovka hill and Spojovací Street. An allotment colony was founded on the land to the north from it in 1938 – one of Prague’s oldest colonies. The City of Prague Council approved the construction of an allotment colony on the local land given to the association as compensation for the land on the Vítkov Hill.