The Imperial Island Wednesday Walk, Prague

My Wednesdays are usually too busy to take a while to stroll around and take some nice pictures along the way, especially this time of the year when it gets dark soon after 4 pm. So, this is my very first entry for the #wednesdaywalk challenge. I know – shame on me. I wanted to kick it off with something special – and can there be anything more exclusive than exploring an imperial manor?

History buffs might raise their eyebrows, and rightly so. Neither Bohemia nor the Czech Republic has ever been an empire. Still, the largest island in the Vltava River in Prague is the Imperial Island, as the Bohemian Estates transferred it to the personal property of one of many monarchs who happened to be both King of Bohemia and The Holy Roman Emperor – Rudolf II. We somehow tend to claim Rudolf II. & Charles IV. were more Czech than the other foreign rulers of Bohemia. Well, both could speak Czech at least.

Okay, so much for the history; let’s aim for the future now, since I took this Wednesday Walk for the Future. The city council is about to revitalize the entire island and its surroundings. I happened to know some of the people involved in the project and was asked to take a route answering a survey regarding my feelings and ideas about the places I’ll pass by. The project is a long-long-long-term thing; it would most likely take over 20 years to shape the rather vast island in a way that would suit both people and nature. I may share a bit of insider information along the way, so you should definitely keep reading 😉

It was cloudy and rather cold, just above zero. Not the best day to hang around noting things to my smartphone, but I embraced it for the sake of future generations and Wednesday Walkers. I started by a hydroelectric plant on one of the many Prague weirs. In a way, it is called after Troy, the ancient city that smartasses know from Homer’s Iliad, and the rest of us thanks to the Hollywood blockbuster. However, Troja is the city district on the other bank, which got its name after the Greek-style statues in its chateau.

And here comes our peculiar specialty – a tire farm. With the ability to yield up to four harvests per season, it churns out sets suitable for both summer and winter. Such farms' contribution to the Czech GDP is a whopping 5%. Of course, I jest. The tires shield newly planted trees from various animals – and there are many species you wouldn’t expect in a city center.

A little sandy “beach”. I appreciate the DIY bench attached to the tree roots. You might say this bit is about to be kept, and if so, you’d be wrong. The trees at the bank are damaged badly from past floods and need to be cut down, including this one. A stony promenade that will protect the land from further erosion will replace them.

The black poplar trees (Populus nigra) at the riverbank.

A pony-riding school.

Goats are among the less expected animals here. They belong to a community garden that occupies a strip of land inland. Besides goats, you may spot hens and beehives there.

A wastewater treatment plant that processes water from over 97% of Prague spans most of the Imperial Island. Those photos are taken atop the most modern part of it. I couldn’t help myself; it reminded me of X-COM: Apocalypse, an old PC game badly. The place would need some shade, but no trees can be planted there as there’s not enough soil to nurture them.

The older part of the complex looks the way one may imagine such a plant – there are tanks, pipes, and so.

This path continued for another 500 meters to the northwest, but I had too little time to make it to the other edge of the island.

I only reached the view of the newest island in the Vltava. It has no name yet; people usually refer to it as the Flood Island (Povodňový ostrov) since it appeared as a result of the most destructive flood in Prague's history in 2002. The bank I snapped the photo of is habited by beavers, and the island is home to water birds, including great egrets.

On my way back to the starting point, I spotted the old, defunct wastewater treatment plant. I might take you there once, it is possible to explore its sewers and feel like a Les Misérables character.

From there, I sneaked by the shipping canal that bypasses the weir with the hydropower plant and leads to Podbaba lock.

And to make my Wednesday Walk even more fancy, I peaked into Stromovka, or the Royal Game Reserve. No games are kept there anymore, but it is one of the most beautiful and extensive parks in the Czech capital. I guess it deserves its own Wednesday Walk entry. Here’s one of its many ponds fed by the Vltava River.

And at the very end two more photos from autumn Stromovka. Enjoy the colors!