Vinohradský Pavilon. - Praha 2

We discovered this building one day when we were coming back home from a walk around the neighborhood. We were walking through Slezskà Street, it was already dark and suddenly we saw this building that surprised us. We stumbled into the back façade, it was late and it was already closed. We were walking around and trying to guess what this building was. The first impression was a market, like the typical markets you can find in the Mediterranean cities. In my city, Barcelona, you can find one of these markets in every neighborhood. Then we were looking through the windows and it looked as an art gallery. But we weren’t sure and, what´s more, we were super curious about this mystery place.

Last weekend we finally went to visit the building. It’s an old industrial refurbished building. Now it’s a shopping mall gallery specialized in furniture of design. There is also a cafeteria in the hall, an art gallery (Gallerie Pavilion.) and a supermarket in the basement.

I didn’t have enough of the Vinohradský Pavilon so I decided to search the internet for more information. But I didn’t find a lot or at least I didn’t find what I wanted to know. Who did the last restoration?

The Pavilon was originally a local factory producing mill machinery from 1879. The architect Antonín Turek converted the factory hall into a modern marketplace opened in 1903 with the name of Vinohrady Market Hall (Vinohradská tržnice). You can see a longer description here. 

Antonín Turek, the architect, was working around the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. Near the Old Vinohrady Market Hall he has two more buildings, the Vinohrady Vodarna (the water tower) and Národní dům (the Vinohrady National House) in Namesti Miru.

Around the 80’s the market was in really bad conditions and in 1986 it suffered a fire. After it, they were considering a demolition but the Old Prague Club (Klub Za starou Prahu) included the Vinohrady Market Hall into the State Register of Immovable Cultural Monuments. They stared a restoration to became a department store called Vinohradsky Pavilon.

Vinohradsky Pavilon was the first shopping mall after the Velvet Revolution opening in 1994. It offered many exclusive design brands but it didn’t work really well. The main attraction was the Albert supermarket. More information about the project here. 

The 11^th of October of 2013 the Vinohradsky Pavilion opened its door again with a long restoration of 9 months. It’s an investment of Martin Leitged, the owner of Stockist, an important Czech Republic distributor of house and furniture brands. Now it’s an exclusive shopping center of furniture where you can find the unique pieces designed by the most important designers and architects.

I found this information here, here, here, here, here (in Spanish) and here (in Spanish).

Vinohrady Market Hall designed by: Antonín Turek
Location: Vinohradská 1200/50 Praha 2
Opening hours: Mo - Fr 10-19.30, Sa 10-18
Public transport Station: Vinohradská tržnice

Saturday’s Farm Market

On Sunday morning we get up early because we wanted to go to rediscover Prague and specially our neighborhood, which we are already in love.

Breakfast is the best meal of the day, for me. And Jan likes to go to the bakery for fresh bread on the weekends, something I appreciate a lot. So, breakfasts are even better on the weekend.

He came back from the bakery telling that he discovers a market in the square!

With a spectacular day we went for it. It was our first weekend alone in Prague since I arrived 3 weeks ago. Jan was speaking to the farmers and this market is every weekend. 

The market has a really good a surtimiento of Czech food. You can fine food to eat at the moment as soap “polevka”, dry meat, vegetables “zelanina a ovove”, desserts and even fish.

This is the dry fish you can fine in the marked and even there were fresh fish, salmon and tuna, and sea food like prawns.

These apples are delicious! Next weekend we will definitely come back!

It was a fantastic Saturday morning; it seems we were in spring not in winter, even the snow was melting.

Location: Jiřího z Poděbrad Square

On: Saturdays morning

Snow!

What a present! What a dream! One weeks and 2 days after my arrival I get up and the city is covert with a few layer of snow. How can this city be even more beautiful under the snow?

I took my camera and I went for a walk. It’s cold, it’s really cold. I’m not used to this kind of weather and I think I’m not going to get used to it, never. You know, I’m from a Mediterranean city, this temperature is not for me.

I walk a lot, from my new home to the city center and to the river. Finally, I decided to take a tram to come back, the number 17. I prefer to see the snowy city though the window of the tram, finally warm, the river, the castle adobe it, the people, the birds and the snow. This is really beautiful, I cannot believe the views.

This first week it has been quite busy. Packing and moving. And it seems that with the snow, also, the peace came back to our place. I’m still in a clown, in a dream, I don’t know if I’m in a dream or if this is now my life.

Bye bye Barcelona! See you soon!

Today starts a new chapter of my life. Today, 12 of January, at 12 pm I’m in the Barcelona airport waiting for my plane, destination Prague.

It’s not the first time I take a plane alone. Actually, I took quite a lot this last 3 and half years, and all with the same destination, Prague. But this time, I don’t know way, I feel alone. Maybe because it the first time in my life I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow.

I’m in the plane. The plane takes off. In 2 hours and half I will be in my new home city. Two hours and half that look like 10 minutes, I cannot stop thinking and dreaming. I’m so nervous! How this new life it’s going to look like?!

The plane landed. I’m in Prague. Am I going to call Prague home?

This story starts today, in the city I think looks more as a fairytale, Prague.