Barrandov Terraces - a First Republic gem with a troubled fate

Prague - It used to be the pinnacle of outing and party nobility. The brilliantly white building of Barrandov Terraces, which was ceremoniously opened on October 4, 1929, proudly towered over the Vltava since the late 1920s. In its ballroom with a splendid view, people danced, sang, and played, while below the rock, swimmers jumped into the most modern swimming pool. The dazzling shine of the terraces "beyond Prague yet in Prague" began to fade in the 1960s, and by the end of the millennium, the entire complex was deteriorating amidst the web of roads of the Barrandov Bridge.

The long-neglected functionalist building is now owned by Liberec entrepreneur Michalis Dzikos, who has been adding two buildings originally presented as a hotel on its sides since 2016. At the same time, the reconstruction of the historic building, which was intended to house restaurants or galleries, is ongoing.

The terraces were built by Václav Havel Sr. During a visit to San Francisco, he was inspired by a restaurant perched on a cliff above the Pacific Ocean and wanted to build something similar in Prague. The father of the future president thus purchased a rocky wasteland then beyond Prague in the 1920s and established a villa colony there. He wanted to connect it with some sort of inn on the Barrandov rock. He entrusted the project to architect Max Urban, who was to build a complex that could accommodate thousands of people while being operational year-round.

The entire complex was constructed in just six months, and the grand opening attracted 50,000 visitors. The functionalist building caught attention with its observation tower, inside there was a French restaurant, glazed on three sides, along with a café with a covered terrace and a complex of other open terraces that naturally followed the undulating edge of the Barrandov rock.

At the top of the tower, it was possible to sit in another luxurious restaurant, and it is said that on the stairs of the observation tower, hurried waiters collided with guests. People ran around a lot on the terraces. And below the terraces, a neon sign reading Barrandov shone, a sort of paraphrase of the Hollywood sign.

The furniture and details of the complex shimmered in the tones of heraldic Prague colors - deep yellow and red. The creators wanted to pay homage to Prague and also to enliven and highlight the building on the rock, as Václav Havel Sr. recounts in his memoirs.

"Outside was a square, there the orchestra played, and people danced. And there was also Trilobit bar, open until four o'clock," reminisced the witness Jaroslav Bořický about the First Republic operation of the terraces. "I heard that beautiful music and those songs, and how it carried over the water, even with the evening fog, it was very poetic," another witness Zdenka Kellerová reminisced for the media.

The atmosphere used to be captivating. The garden restaurant could accommodate up to 3,000 guests. The orchestra of R. A. Dvorský played on the terraces until seven in the evening and then moved to the Trilobit bar, which was added to the terraces in 1937.

In the 1930s, the Havels also added a swimming pool to the terraces, down in the former quarry, which was connected to the restaurant by a cable car. It was the first fifty-meter swimming pool in the republic and was always full, even though it had the coldest water in Prague.

People also came to the terraces for afternoon concerts, and famous actors were among the regular guests. Oldřich Nový, Vlasta Burian, Svatopluk Beneš, and Adina Mandlová spun around on the dance floor. President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and his son Jan also enjoyed the atmosphere of the terraces.

Under the motto "Beyond Prague yet in Prague," the terraces were relatively accessible. A new road led there, one could get there by bus, sightseeing bus, steamboat, or tram number five to Hlubočepy and walk through the orchard.

Actors had a short distance from the Barrandov studios, so it was no wonder that the terraces "play" in films as well. How life thrived there is evident in the film "Před maturitou" by Vladislav Vančura from 1932.

The star-studded fame of the terraces ended in the late 1940s when they were nationalized and neglected. However, they continued to be used by communist politicians, and in the 1960s, they remained a popular spot for Prague's elite. The pool remained in operation until 1966.

Even in the 1980s, the terraces were regularly prepared for a new season, but their shine was fading. In 1982, the Trilobit bar was closed, and neither the declaration of the terraces as a cultural monument in 1988 (since 1993 the area has been a heritage zone) nor their restitution to the Havel family after the Velvet Revolution prevented their decline.

The last time the restaurant welcomed guests was in 1994, after which it was closed, and since then, no one has taken care of the area. Václav Havel's wife, Dagmar, sold it in 2003.