Area of the Palacky Square is bordered with buildings of Ministry of Health on the east and with high apartment houses on the north. On the southern side the boundary is created by Zítkovy sady. On the western side there is a busy offshore road, which at the same time creates the front zone of Palacky bridge, built as early as in 1876-1878 by building company of Kleins brothers according to design by ing. Josef Reiter. The whole area under Emauzy, including the buildings of Ministries, got its shape in 1924-1929 by architect Bohumil Hypšman. It was one of the most outstanding urban designs in Prague between the World Wars. In our time there have been responsively incorporated entrances to lobby of underground’s route B in the square.
Indisputable dominant feature is memorial to historian and politician František Palacký (1798-1876). Although its establishment had been decided as early as in 1876, the jury decided on the winning competition design as late as in July 1901. It was model by professor of College of Applied Arts, Stanislav Sucharda (1866-1916). Arch. Alois Dryák co-operated in the work in an architectonic way. The central part of the memorial, sitting figure of František Palacký, was rendered by Stanislav Sucharda in granite, which he considered as the most dignified material for this purpose. On the pylon the spiritual leader and the nation’s awakener is surrounded with allegoric bronze group, representing genius and voices of history, which Palacký is listening to respectfully. On the right and on the left, low at the ground on pedestal sallies there are bronze allegories of Oppression and Awakening of the nation. Ceremonious unveiling of the memorial happened on 1st July 1912.
During German occupation in 1939, the memorial was broken down and it should have been destroyed according to command of occupation administration. However, there were found brave patriots, who hid the destroyed memorial in remote pen and they let it become overgrown with weeds. Thus in 1948 the memorial could be only completed with the missing parts and ceremoniously re-installed.
