Štvanice is an island on the

Vltava Vltava ( , ; german: Moldau ) is the longest river in the Czech Republic, running southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice and Prague, and finally merging with the Labe at ...

river between the

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

districts of Holešovice and

Karlín Karlín (german: Karolinenthal) is a cadastral area of Prague, part of Prague 8 municipal district, formerly an independent town (which became part of Prague in 1922). It is bordered by the river Vltava and Holešovice to the north, Vítkov ...

. At the end of the 17th century, a wooden arena was built there. Until 1816, the island was used for dog hunts involving various animals such as bears, bulls, deer, and cows, although these were repeatedly banned. This is the origin of the island's name, which translates to ''hunt'' or ''chase''. In 1931, Štvanice Stadium was built on the island, and originally consisted entirely of

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...

. This later became the ice skating centre of Prague until its demolition in 2011.

Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual international men's ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF). First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annual ...

were held at the stadium four times: in 1933, 1938, 1947, and 1959. It was here that in 1947, the Czechoslovakia men's national ice hockey team won the world championship for the first time. In 1986, a modern

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

arena was built on Štvanice, with nine outdoor and two indoor courts; the central court has a capacity of 8,000 seats and is the annual site of the ATP and WTA Prague Open tournaments. The island also has a roofed

skatepark A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairse ...

, and as such it is the only place which permits year-round skateboarding in Prague. In 2006, a neighbouring indoor skate bowl was added to the facility. In the eastern part of the island there used to be a public swimming pool, which in the 1990s had a nudist resort. This was of interest for being set up almost directly in the centre of Prague, near a hydropower plant and an adjustable water slalom track. The island is spanned by the Hlávkův bridge and Negrelliho viaduct.

Gallery

File:Štvanice, centrální tenisový dvorec a socha tenisty.jpg, Tennis arena Štvanice File:Skate stvanice.jpg, Štvanice skatepark File:Zimni stadion Stvanice Praha 005.jpg, Former winter stadium of Štvanice File:Negrelliho viadukt nad Stvanici.jpg, Negrelliho viaduct File:Štvanice-loď u elektrárny.jpg, Ship near the hydropower plant File:Sportovní kanál Štvanice z Negrelliho viaduktu.jpg, Sport canal of Štvanice

External links

Štvanice island at Prague.net

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stvanice Islands of the Czech Republic Vltava River islands of the Czech Republic