The Communists ran the country from 1948 to 1989 and left their mark on Prague in a number of ways. Here's our guide to a number of interesting sights, and one that's conspicuous by its absence. We'll take you to the Metronome at Letna, where on the huge deserted plinth an enormous Stalin monument once stood, till it was dynamited after Stalin was discredited. Stand in the street outside the former secret police (StB) headquarters, maybe even stay in the Unitas hostel next door, which started life as a convent but was taken over by the StB and used as holding cells. Marvel at the ugliness of the former parliament building, now the headquarters of Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. Get lost in the maze of identical panelaky (tower blocks) around Luziny Metro Station (B Line). On your way there, stop at Andel Metro Station (B Line), previously known as Moskevska (Moscow). Here you'll find various 'works of art' bearing testimony to the great spirit of friendship and co-operation between Prague and Moscow.
Vertigo sufferers should probably steer clear of TV Tower Praha, or just see it from the outside, and admire how David Cerny's crawling babies sculptures soften the space-age looking tower, rumoured to have been built by the Communists to block TV signals from the West, the construction of the tower lasted from 1985 to 1992.
Follow in the footsteps of the big Commie apparatchiks at the grand Hotel Praha and Crowne Plaza Hotel. The Crowne Plaza has a green star atop its spire. Hotel Praha is an overwhelming place still dripping in what passed for good taste under Communism.
No consideration of Commie Prague could be complete without a trip to the Museum of Communism, where you'll find artifacts, posters, and a recreation of a secret police interrogation room. Also notice the sweet irony of the museum's location, sandwiched between a McDonalds and a casino on Na Prikope, Prague's most expensive shopping street.
