Prague Castle's Deer Moat to reopen to the public after four years

Following more than four years of closures due to renovations, Prague Castle's Deer Moat will be reopened to the public in April 2023. There is also a chance that the moat will open as early as this December, Novinky.cz quotes Prague Castle spokesperson Vít Novák as saying.

Owing to high public interest, Prague Castle Administration is preparing safety measures under which the moat could be opened in winter as well. One main path could be kept open for visitors to use, ČTK writes. "I believe that we will succeed in [doing] this within several days," Novák added.

The security checks at the entrance to the Deer Moat and the adjacent Royal Garden will also be canceled in April 2023. It is not yet clear whether these would continue if the moat were to open this month.

The upper part of the moat had opened to the public last year, while work on lower portions of the moat continued through the autumn months. Renovations to the lower half of the moat included repairs to its walls.

Visitors entering the main area of Prague Castle must still pass through a security checkpoint; a decision has yet to be made regarding their potential cancellation.

Prague Castle's Deer Moat was entirely closed to the public during the communist years, but reopened to great acclaim under President Václav Havel. Hidden from the main Castle area, it quickly became a favorite respite for locals away from the crowds of tourists in the courtyards.

The Brusnice creek runs along the Deer Moat before travelling through an underground tunnel and joining the Vltava river near the Malostranská metro station. A pedestrian tunnel underneath the Prašné most bridge connects the upper and lower portions of the moat.

In 2017, some entrances to the lower half of the Deer Moat were closed by officials, citing safety concerns. The following year, it was announced that the lower portion of the moat would be closed for renovations. The work was expected to take ten months, but eventually ran for more than four years.

The Deer Moat isn't the only attraction at Prague Castle that will reopen to the public after a lengthy closure. The Castle's popular art gallery is expected to reopen in January after being closed since 2019.