It is known that you come from Jičín. How did you get to Prague, and when did you move to Klimentská Street, where you have been living for many years? Yes, I am originally from Jičín, but right after graduating from the local grammar school, I left to study at the VŠB in Ostrava. After graduation, I worked as a geologist, mostly in Southern and Central Bohemia. I came to Prague in 1964. A year later, I got a cooperative apartment in Zahradní Město, which I exchanged a year later for an apartment right here in Klimentská Street. In 1973, I swapped it for an apartment on the opposite side of the street, where I still live today.
How satisfied are you with living here? Fully satisfied, especially after we, along with the other tenants (including actor Josef Bek and sociologist Jiřina Šiklová), founded a housing cooperative in 1995, bought the building from the Prague 1 municipal district, and now manage it ourselves. In 2002, we were hit by a catastrophic flood from the neighboring Vltava River, which destroyed the facilities in the basement and ground floor. But we survived even that, repaired the damage, and modernized the building in the following years.
What kind of role does the Klimentská Passage, of which you are becoming a patron, play in your life? The passage, or rather the shortcut between Klimentská Street and Petrské Square, is a vital communication artery for me. It allows me to shorten the way from what is a rather peripheral and quiet part of the Petrská quarter into the busy center, to shops, services, offices, and the like. It used to be accessible and open without limitations, but in the early nineties, a few muggings took place here (including one involving a neighbor), so iron gates were installed, and it is closed at night and on public holidays. We then have to take a detour around the school via Barvířská Street.
Which places in the Petrská quarter do you like the most, and where do you enjoy going? I like going to the neighboring Lanna Park, out for food to the restaurant on the corner of our street and Revoluční, and for coffee or wine to the café and pastry shop in Revoluční Street. Ideally with my girlfriend. My most favorite place in Prague, however, is the National Library in the Klementinum, where I have been going for more than sixty years to gather knowledge for my research and publications.
It is well known that you have been studying Prague’s architectural and sculptural monuments for years and that you regularly publish your findings. What can you tell us about that? I have been gladly dealing with this topic for almost forty years now. During that time, besides more than a hundred articles in various periodicals, I have written and published seven books. The first one, in 2016, was about the stones in the St. Vitus, Wenceslaus and Adalbert Cathedral, and the last one, about Prague’s bronze statues, monuments, and commemorative plaques, came out last year. However, this activity of mine does not end there, and I am already working on other topics.
There is one more book in your bibliography, which was your very first one – a 1994 monograph on the noble building and sculptural stones of the Czech Republic. As an expert, what can you tell us about the wall cladding and flooring in the Klimentská Passage? The northern part of the passage in house no. 2067 has rather modest features – cladding made of beige Yugoslavian (?) marble and ceramic tiling. On the other hand, the southern part in house no. 1186 is rich, featuring cladding made of dark-striped Silesian marble and mosaic flooring made of various colored types of local and foreign marbles. These have different wear resistance, which is why the floor has become unevenly worn out and not completely flat over the years.
