Neptune fountain in Havlíčkovy sady

The Neptune Fountain is a 19th-century water basin crowned with a statue of the sea god, tucked away in the lower section of Havlíčkovy sady – the former garden of the Gröbovka villa in Prague's Vinohrady district. It is one of the corners of the park that still hints at its original, ornamental design, from the era when the grounds were a private estate rather than a public promenade.

Where exactly is the fountain located?

The basin with the Neptune statue sits in the lower part of Havlíčkovy sady, in Prague 2 (Vinohrady), not far from the main path that runs from the Krymská street entrance toward the park's viewing pavilion and former vineyard. Its coordinates are 50.069925, 14.443472. The park itself slopes down toward the Vltava river, and the fountain lies closer to its lower, quieter end.

Where does the name Havlíčkovy sady come from, and what was Gröbovka?

The park was laid out between 1871 and 1888 as the garden of a villa built for the Prague industrialist Moritz Gröbe, designed by architect Antonín Barvitius, with interiors completed by Josef Schulz. During the owner's lifetime, the grounds were a carefully designed private estate filled with ornamental features – pavilions, an artificial grotto, terraces, and decorative water basins such as this one with Neptune. After Gröbe's death in 1891, his heirs maintained the garden for a time and allowed visitors in for a fee, before eventually selling the estate to the Vinohrady municipality in 1905. The following year, on 16 May 1906, the grounds opened to the public as a municipal park named after the Czech writer and politician Karel Havlíček Borovský – hence today's name, Havlíčkovy sady, even though many Praguers still refer to it by its older name, Gröbovka.

Who created the Neptune statue?

The statue of Neptune was created by the Czech sculptor Bohuslav Schnirch, an artist active around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries who is known for decorative work on several public buildings in Prague. Placed at the centre of a round basin, the figure of the sea god followed the stylistic conventions of ornamental park fountains of the period, meant to serve as an eye-catching centrepiece within a water feature.

What did the fountain look like in the past?

The Neptune basin is documented on Prague postcards from 1908, a period when the fountain was running with water and surrounded by a promenade where park visitors would stroll. This image shows how central the feature once was to the garden's overall design – not a simple reservoir, but a decorative water element woven into Gröbovka's broader romantic landscaping, alongside other features such as the artificial grotto and the viewing pavilion.

What's worth knowing before a visit?

Havlíčkovy sady remains a popular spot for locals from Vinohrady, combining a landscaped park with the remnants of the estate's former vineyard and orchard. While the Neptune fountain is not a headline attraction on Prague's typical sightseeing route, it makes for an interesting stop for anyone exploring the park's 19th-century garden features. It's worth pairing a walk through this part of the park with a visit to the nearby viewing pavilion and the old vineyard.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the Neptune fountain located? In the lower part of Havlíčkovy sady (formerly Gröbovka) in Prague's Vinohrady district, at coordinates 50.069925, 14.443472.

Who designed the Neptune statue? The Czech sculptor Bohuslav Schnirch.

What was Gröbovka before it became a public park? A private garden attached to a villa built between 1871 and 1888 for the industrialist Moritz Gröbe.

Since when has the park been open to the public? Since 16 May 1906, when the Vinohrady municipality opened it as Havlíčkovy sady.

Does the fountain still operate as it once did? Historic postcards from 1908 show it running with water and surrounded by a promenade – the best-documented period of its heyday.