Emerging Prague: Wenceslas Square

A quarter of a century has passed since Wenceslas Square’s star turn in the Velvet Revolution. Since then, a steady stream of retailers – and tourists – have crowded in, relegating some of its more questionable “businesses” to the side-street alleyways.

But kiosks and a quasi-pedestrian zone, which opened on the north end of the square, seemingly unbeknownst to a few of the city’s more aggressive taxi drivers, aren’t the only changes in store for this former medieval horse market.

Wenceslas Square is set to get a full-fledged 21st-century facelift, though exactly when this will happen is a point of contention. A design plan was approved in 2005, but nine years on the blueprints continue to languish with no one at City Hall willing or able to go on the record about when construction will finally break ground.

“This is a symbolic project,” explains Jakub Cigler, a partner at Cigler Marani Architects, whose design won the 2005 architectural competition. “Wenceslas Square is kind of a cathedral without a roof, therefore it should be treated this way. It is not enough to reshape the surface but to push the owners of the buildings to bring in respectable tenants. The quality of Prague is the center. This is why people come to the city. It’s part of our history, and it needs to be maintained.”

Cigler has been working with city leaders since the early ’90s to find a way to clean up Wenceslas’ gritty image. While he cannot police the area’s businesses, his architectural vision for the 750-meter-long square does offer a number of specific upgrades that he feels will make this central public space – which he calls the “heart of the city”– more pedestrian-friendly and more representative of the Czech capital.

Cigler’s plans call for reinstating a tram line on the south end of the square with a direct connection to Vinohrady. Car traffic would be curtailed, and parking would be moved underground, widening the pedestrian zone. More trees would be planted, and the north end of the square would be developed into a multipurpose exhibition space. The motorway that separates the National Museum from Wenceslas would also be trimmed from three to two lanes. If construction broke ground today, Cigler estimates the project would take just three years to complete.

“Our design is not something totally new,” he says. “Wenceslas Square should be a very simple and symbolic place. And kind of pleasant to walk down.”

It all sounds very romantic. However, for many long-time Praguers, these types of high-flying plans might seem a little far-fetched given the snail-like pace of the city’s bureaucracy system. (Many of us are still waiting for politicos to do something about that smell in the Můstek metro.)

Ask locals what their favorite spot on the square is, and most have problems coming up with a decent answer. Lucerna Pasáž, with its grand atrium and winding passageways, gets a lot of nods, though technically, its main entrance is on Štěpánská.

“Our guests say, after stepping into Dobrá čajovna’s backyard from the bustling square, that they feel like they are coming into another world,” says owner and co-founder Aleš Juřina. “Maybe it is the influence of the tea-mystery, maybe it’s the protection of Our Lady of the Snows” – Dobrá čajovna’s back wall neighbors this 14th-century church – “or maybe it’s simply a miracle.”  

Whatever the case, Wenceslas Square could definitely do with a few other miracles.