Windmill Větrník

Větrník is a former Dutch-type windmill in Prague's Břevnov district, standing at the edge of the Benedictine monastery gardens on U Větrníku street, roughly 360 meters above sea level. Listed in the Czech Republic's Central Register of Cultural Monuments since 1958, the building today operates as a guesthouse — one of the few physical reminders that windmilling was once part of daily life on the outskirts of Prague.

How old is the windmill?

Milling in this area has roots going back to the Middle Ages. The 993 founding charter of Břevnov Monastery lists five mills among its possessions — three water mills on the Vltava and two others left unspecified. Whether any of those stood exactly where Větrník stands now isn't certain, but the earliest known depiction of a windmill at this precise spot dates from 1721, an engraving of the Břevnov Monastery complex based on an earlier drawing by Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer. Kryštof Dientzenhofer is credited as the builder of the mill still standing today, and the year 1722, carved into a small stone portal, marks its completion.

What happened to it over the centuries?

In 1840 a second Dutch-type windmill went up right beside the first, but it didn't survive — it was torn down in 1912 during redevelopment of the area. The older mill, the one still standing, remained monastery property until 1794, when ownership passed to the Kohoutek family of millers. Milling itself stopped in the 1860s. In 1899 a Prague restaurateur, Jan Josef Černohorský, bought the building, by then already a ruin, and a year later added a residential wing. A summer restaurant opened in the courtyard soon after, running until 1927. The windmill itself underwent a thorough reconstruction in 1905.

Can you visit it today?

Větrník is now the only surviving windmill in Prague, but it operates as a guesthouse rather than a museum, so there's no regular visiting schedule or public interior access the way there would be at a heritage site open to tourists. The exterior and its setting beside the monastery garden are visible from the street, though, making it a worthwhile stop on a walk through Břevnov and Střešovice.

Where exactly is it?

The windmill sits on U Větrníku street, on the border between Břevnov and Střešovice, right next to the gardens of Břevnov Monastery — one of the oldest men's monasteries in the Czech Republic. The surrounding area, now a quiet, villa-lined part of Prague 6, was historically a working suburb tied to milling and similar trades.

Frequently asked questions

Is Větrník the only windmill left in Prague? Yes, it's the sole windmill still standing anywhere in Prague.

Who built the Větrník windmill? Kryštof Dientzenhofer is credited as the builder; the completion year, 1722, is carved into the stone portal.

Can you go inside? The building now functions as a guesthouse, so it isn't set up for general sightseeing visits — you can view it from the outside, though.

When was it declared a cultural monument? It has been listed in the Central Register of Cultural Monuments of the Czech Republic since 1958.

Was there ever a restaurant on site? Yes, a summer restaurant operated in the courtyard from 1900 until 1927.