Baba Neighbourhood Prague: What to Do What to See

Baba is a neighbourhood in the Dejvice district in north-west Prague. This neighbourhood is built on a rocky hill and offers a spectacular view of the city. Three parallel streets and about forty villas make up Baba. Each villa is a prime example of functionalist architecture. To the untrained eye, the villas resemble shoe boxes, but the connoisseur recognizes the footprint of famous architects such as Pavel Janak, Josef Gocar and Ladislav Zak. A walk through Baba will introduce you to a completely different Prague, no Baroque or Art Nouveau but stark, modern, minimalist architecture.

What to Do and See in the Baba Neighbourhood

1. To begin with, there are hardly any tourists in this neighbourhood which is an attraction in itself. A walk through the streets offers a good impression of this residential area and its functionalist-style villas. On the edge of Baba, the view is phenomenal. When you get here late afternoon or early evening, the city below lits up.

2. The Baba ruin is a romantic place. The Sarka nature reserve stretched behind and marked walking routes crisscross this rural area. The small church in the district, dedicated to Saint Matthew, comprises a baroque altar decorated with angels and cherubs. The cemetery next to it is peaceful and secluded.

3. A pastry shop-cum-restaurant is located in the former rectory; not one large open space but a number of small rooms connected with open doors. Enjoy the fixed-priced lunch menu or have coffee with apple strudel. Be sure to ask for Kofola, imitation Coca-Cola affordable in communist days and still loved today.

4. The Albert Supermarket, opposite the bus stop, is a good place to stock up if you intend to go for a hike in the Sarka nature reserve. There are no other shops in this neighbourhood.

5. Bar Fiserka, Matejska 76, with welcoming outdoor wooden benches is open from 3pm for a beer and snack. You will meet here many Czechs and hardly any tourists.

6. Elegant dining in Restaurant U Mateje. This restaurant offers a gastronomic experience. The dishes are a combination of international and Czech cuisine. With twelve seats, two waiters, a sommelier and Jan Puncochar, owner and chef, U Mateje is small and intimate. Puncochar gained experience in renowned restaurants both in the Czech Republic and abroad and uses this to make up his own very delicious dishes.

Baba Neighbourhood: Functionalist Villas and a Ruin

Baba is the name of an old ruin on the top of the hill. Some allege that this seventeenth century ruin is a folly, a romantic structure deliberately built as a ruin. Others claim Baba was an old lookout point. On clear days, Baba Hill offers a magnificent view of the northwestern part of Prague.

The Baba district was built in 1932. It comprises 33 villas designed by leading functionalist architects led by Pavel Janak (1882-1956), a famous theorist of the Czech Cubist movement. He was a modernist architect, furniture designer and urban planner.

The district was an ideological project: well-known architects designed luxury houses for ‘ordinary’ Czech families. The building materials were modern and progressive for those days: steel, glass and reinforced concrete.

Characteristics of functionalist architecture are non-load bearing outer walls, continuous horizontal window strips, flat roofs and lack of decoration. The project was not entirely successful because when the houses were completed the wealthier cultural elite bought them, not quite according to Janak’s ideology. All the houses are still there and most are in their original condition. None of the villas is open to the public.

Characteristics of the Baba Neighbourhood

The untrained eye sees blind walls of villas that look more like building blocks than pleasant places to live. These windowless walls face the street and the north. The south side is much more attractive, with large windows, verandas and balconies adjacent to the garden. The villas had to be built on a relatively small, sloping piece of land and the architects solved this problem in an admirable way.

The villas stand wide apart and none obstructs the other’s view. This new neighbourhood was and still is attractive to live because of the clean air, and rural surroundings. The gardens hold berry bushes, fruit trees and even grapes. The first inhabitants belonged to the well-to-do middle class, mainly politicians, lawyers, doctors, architects and artists. This is the same mix of the residents to this day.

Tip: City Walk Baba: a self-guided walk through the district, with clear directions and details about the villas.

View from Baba

The view from Baba is spectacular and you can see almost all of Prague. Directly under the rock, along the Vltava, is the railway line to Kralupy nad Vltavou and further north. With a bit of luck, you will see giraffes and zebras on the hill on the other side of the river, Prague Zoo in the Troja district. Prague Castle is to the south and more in the foreground is the Podbaba district.

The 88m high tower of Hotel International is clearly visible, a must-see for architecture enthusiasts. The hotel is a prime example of realist architecture. Read here about this Stalinist building. Right in front, in the Vltava River is Císařský, the largest island of Prague, with a wastewater treatment plant. Upstream you will see the new Troja Bridge.

To the north you will see the sidliste typical of the Prague skyline of Prague. The outskirts are full of ‘panelaky’, apartment buildings constructed from prefabricated panels. Read about housing in the outskirts of Prague here. The nature reserve near Baba is peaceful and seem to be miles away from the capital city and its rush of traffic and people.

How to get there

The Baba district is sandwiched between Nad Patankou, Pruhledova, Matejska, and Jarni streets.
Public transport: Take bus 113 from Hradcanska metro station and get off at the U Mateje stop (opposite Albert Supermarket)

Addresses
Mathiaskerk, U Mateje street
Restaurant U Stare Fare, Na Fiserce 17, open 11.00-18.00, closed on Monday
Albert Supermarkt and Bar Fiserka, Matejska street 76, in the same housing block
Restaurant U Mateje, U Mateje street 1,open from 11.30 am – midnight

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