Husovo náměstí / Hus Square

Husovo náměstí, an open space between Husova and Tylova Streets, is one of the sub-centres of the one-time Říšské (today Jižní/Southern) Předměstí / Imperial Suburb. It was formed by leaving out one square on the chess board structure of the development west of the historical centre in close proximity to the large Škoda Works premises.

In the Middle Ages, small groves called Na Rámech were found here. The intention to set up a square here appears for the first time in plans from the 19th century. These envisaged, however, an area of two housing blocks (instead of its ensuing half size). The east side of the square was developed first, followed by the north side. A school building was constructed on its western edge in 1899. The south part was developed in the first decade of the 20th century. 

The park’s modifications to the space date back to the year 1910, remaining here without substantial changes for almost a century. During the Second World War, as with many other public spaces in Pilsen the square served as the location of a fire reservoir in case of Allied air raids on the arms factory in the Škoda Works. 

In the post-war local development plan, the square was intersected by the newly-designed route of the north-south through road from Lochotín to Bory. Although this plan has not yet been realised, the city’s development plan still includes it. Minor adaptations of the space were carried out in the years 1981–1982, during which mounds were formed and planted out alongside the busy roads. The current look of the park is the result of a revitalisation effort from the year 2008, when the mounds were complemented by gabion walls. New street furniture and playground facilities were installed. The pattern of the pavement of the most frequented route evokes the “railroad tracks and switches” in the nearby Škoda Works; the side routes, on the contrary, are a reminder of railroad sleepers.

JČ – MK

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