history of location :

The oldest documented view of historical Prague quarters as published in Liber chronicorum by Hartmann Schedel in 1493 (woodcut; Michael Wohlgemuth, 1493)

Italian architects, the first ones settling down in Malá Strana (Lesser Town) in the second half of the 16 th century, had an enormous impact on the architecture of this Prague quarter. Inspired by Italian Renaissance, they adjusted it to the needs of the place and created a specifically Czech Renaissance style. They used it throughout Malá Strana to reconstruct the quarter after numerous fires, such as the great fire of 1541.

Prague Castle and Malá Strana (Lesser Town) in the Vratislav woodcut from 1562, revealing the first imprints of Renaissance on Prague Castle (Belvedere and the palaces of prominent feudal lords); Malá Strana is still scathed by the 1541 fire (woodcut; Jan Kozel and Michael Peterle of Annaberg, 1562)

The time of Emperor Rudolph II was admittedly one of the most glorious in the history of Malá Strana. Rudolph chose Prague as his permanent residence, making it the centre of Europe at the time and attracting architects, builders, sculptors, painters, craftsmen as well as businessmen. Most of the newcomers settled in Malá Strana. The number of foreigners was so great that they formed colonies and congregations. The Catholic Italians resided around the Vlašský hospital, giving the Vlašská Street its present name (Vlašský meaning Italian in old Czech).

Vlašská Street was the ancient road from Malá Strana up to the Petrín Hill. Similar to Petrín, there were vineyards and gardens at first. New buildings started filling the area near the end of the 14 th century and throughout the 15 th century. Intense construction activity was characteristic of the entire Baroque period. The Swedish siege of Prague in 1648 badly damaged this upland part of the city, prompting large-scale baroque modifications to individual houses. However, alterations made in the block of Renaissance buildings between Bretislavova and Vlašská Streets were only minor. The Theresian land register indicates there were mostly palaces in Malá Strana around the year 1730, some of the most splendid in Vlašská Street . It was not until the Classicist time that more substantial changes were made. Purity of style was typical of the Classicist period, manifested in architecture as desire for airy rooms full of light.

Vlašská Street runs past the former Vlašský hospital (today's Pod Petrínem Hospital , managed by the order of St. Charles the Boromei) through the Strahov Garden up to the Strahov Monastery and the Petrín Hill. Petrín Gardens are the largest public park in Prague . On the occasion of the Jubilee Land Exhibition in Prague 's Stromovka in 1891, an iron structure of a smaller copy of the Eiffel Tower in Paris was erected on the top of the Petrín Hill. Another technical attraction was later transferred from Stromovka to Petrín – a mirror labyrinth and a diorama depicting the battle with Swedes on Charles Bridge . Inhabitants of Prague could reach the top of Petrín on foot or by a funicular.

One of the few preserved signs indicating the name of a street in Malá Strana dates back to the 18 th century, when street names used to be painted on the façades of buildings in Czech and German (restored in 2004).

The name of Jánský vršek Street (John's Hill) is a reminder of the church in the Obora parish, dedicated to St. John the Baptist.

The name of Vlašská (Italian) Street is derived from the colony of Italians who used to live in this area. Among the residents of the House at the Cascade was a member of the famous Italian family of Orsini.

The original name of the House at the Cascade refers to the fact that a brook used to run from Strahov through today 's Tržište down to Vltava River . It is likely that there once was a real water-fall where the House at the Cascade is now.