Bořivojova Street

The present relatively long street taking a right angle turn from Rajská zahrada up to Lucemburská Street includes the former Bořivojova as well as Riegrova Streets. The two were joined in 1947. Important buildings on the former Bořivojova included the National House in Žižkov (no. 1216) from 1910–1911. It used to have a restaurant, café, dance room and hotel rooms. Once open, it was used for club meetings, dances and other social events. There was even a business school on the premises. During the socialist regime, it was downgraded to a low-level public house but its distinguished restaurant and hotel functions have been restored.   

The former Riegrova Street no. 816 was the birthplace of the poet Jaroslav Seifert (September 23, 1901). Since 2001, this has been commemorated by a memorial plaque on the building. The essential work concerning Žižkov is the poet’s memories of childhood and youth – All the Beauties of the World. “I went through a lot before the Olšany pond meant more to me than the Mediterranean Sea, before the Garden of Eden won over the Bois de Boulogne, and before the Jewish Ovens attracted me more than Mont Blanc; before I learned what was the beauty of the land I live in, and of the city that is my home, that I would not exchange for all the beauties and wonders of the world.” In his memoirs, he compares the atmosphere of Žižkov to that of Paris when describing the discussions in the streets where people brought out stools and chairs, sat down and talked, even across the road – a simpler version of the boulevards of Paris. In his youth when he participated in workers’s meetings and protest rallies, Jaroslav Seifert focused on proletarian poetry. He also dedicated his collections, Stars above the Garden of Eden or City in Tears, to Žižkov.