Walks in the Prague parks (VI) – A surprising discovery in the middle of Chodov: 3 km

• In the middle of the residential district of Chodov in southern Prague is a remarkable circular building; a Renaissance/Baroque chateau built on the foundations of an extremely rare 13th century circular ‘water’ fortress. The deep moat that once protected the Gothic fortress is still prominent. Today the building, which underwent major modifications in the 16th, 17th and 19th centuries, houses a cultural center.
• Chodovská tvrz is a short, flat 1 km walk along side streets from Chodov shopping center and metro station. The walk itself is not particularly scenic but the tvrz is worth seeing, and there is a modern recreation park next to the chateau with various attractions. There are various refreshment options en route, including a modern restaurant in the park area, a café in the chateau and on the side streets between the shopping center and the park a fun outdoor food stall, ‘Meat on the Street’, which is worth investigating.

Note: click ‘Show on Mapy.com’  to go to a full screen version of the route directly on the mapy.com site. This can be used for on line navigation, saved or exported as a GPX file.

Directions

• Starting at Chodov metro, take the exit marked Chodovská tvrz and follow the cycle route on the footbridge over the highway
• The route is occasionally marked with signposts to the tvrz (fortress) but essentially follows the K Dubu street until reaching an underpass – on the right side is the food stall
• Take the underpass and then immediately on the left is the park area with the chateau (the recreation area, including crazy golf, fitness zone etc, is a few hundred meters further on
• Return back to Chodov metro on the same path