Europe is full of ruins that paint a delightful picture of its turbulent past. It’s not every day you can see ruins that are as artificial as a fast food joint. Prague’s ruins of Baba are one such fake ruin.

Location

If you head out of the tourist area of Prague and head north, the Dejvice suburbs almost immediately become obvious.

My river-based walking guide may help with this.

On the left-bank, opposite the city zoo, the terrain rises to about 260m above water level¹. On the top of this hillock, you can see the ruins. They’re hard to miss as they occupy a prominent spot, and as a result they’re quite visible if you catch a northbound train from the city since the tracks follow the camber of the river.

Rumours and legends

There isn’t much documentation about this place. It’s possible it was¹:

• A chapel, of sorts.
• A 19th century building with Gothic-style windows.
• In the 17th century, French and Bavarian soldiers demolished a summer house that stood here.

Logic tells me that if it was built (or in use) as recent as the 19th century, then we would have some information about it.

Facts

Studies from the 1970s show the hill was occupied in the late Stone Age². With the river close by, and the advantage of being on a hill, I think this is a logical choice for a settlement. The name – Baba hill – was documented as early as the 15th century².

In 1622, a Praguer by the name of Jindřich Žežul founded a vineyard here². He lived in the New Town² which is on the other side of the city.

In the mid-19th century, Europe was busy connecting itself with railways. Like any major city, Prague had its own developments. It was in 1858 that the tracks heading north from Prague were laid^{1 2}. The hill and ruins are a prominent part of the view of any northbound train, so the train company worked with that.

They adapted the building to resemble a ruin¹, including adding Gothic arches³. This added a certain old-world charm to any trip to, or from, the Bohemian capital. The site also became a popular hiking spot¹¹. Given the magnificent view of the river and the city, this is hardly surprising.

Today, the suburbs reach the ruin itself so while it still is a pleasant walk, it’s hardly the trek that it must have been back in the day.

1. Prague Unknown: The Ruins of Baba; Petr B; Prague Morning; 2020-08-07[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. The ruins of Baba; Turistik.cz; (Retrieved 2022-07-02) [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
3. Baba ruins; Marcela Horká, Vlastimil HloupýToulejSe.cz; (Retrieved 2022-07-02) [↩]