Certovka Canal - Prague, Czech Republic
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ToRo61
N 50° 05.228 E 014° 24.497
33U E 457670 N 5548487
The Certovka (Devil's Canal), sometimes also called Little Prague Venice in English, is a canal in Prague
Waymark Code: WM167WM
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 05/28/2022
Views: 5
A short Vltava canal separating Kampa Island from the rest of the Lesser Town, fed by a several hundred metre long tunnel from the Smíchov Lock. The area around Certovka is sometimes called the Venice of Prague. The location of the shot is not far from the Kampa Museum in the middle of the Kampa Island.
"The Certovka is a very picturesque man-made channel on the western side of the Vltava river in Prague. The name can be translated as the Devil‘s Stream of Devil‘s Channel. The construction of the canal has created an artificial island in Prague. This island between the Certovka and the Vltava is called Kampa and it is quite an interesting place in its own right.
The Certovka was created by the Knights Hospitaller in the Middle Ages. The purpose of the canal was providing a regulated water flow for the mills that would be built along its course. Three of those watermills have survived to this day.
The best known of them is the Grand Priory Mill (Velkoprevorský mlýn). It is visible from Charles Bridge; on the left side – if you’re going towards Prague Castle. The name of the mill refers to the Grand Priory of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, a.k.a. Knights Hospitaller. An alternative name of the watermill is the Maltese Mill (Maltézský mlýn). It was also known as the Stephen’s Mill (Štepánovský mlýn), as its owner in the 16th century was a miller named Štepán (Stephen).
The Grand Priory Mill doesn’t serve its original purpose anymore. The wheel is a reconstruction and its function is purely decorative nowadays. The building has been the seat of several Czech companies in the recent history."
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