Kampa Island

Kampa is an artificial island in the Vltava River in the heart of Prague's Malá Strana (Lesser Town), separated from the mainland by a narrow millstream known as Čertovka — the "Devil's Stream" — which has powered local mills since the Middle Ages. With an area of roughly 2.65 hectares, it is one of the largest islands within Prague's historic centre. The earliest written mention of Kampa dates back to 1169, in the foundation charter of the Order of Malta during the reign of King Vladislav II, when the Knights Hospitaller dug the channel to supply their mills. The origin of the name is debated: it likely comes from the Latin campus ("field" or "plain"), referring to land allegedly used as a camp by Spanish soldiers during the 1620 Battle of White Mountain, or from the Old Czech word zákampí ("shaded place"), though it may also derive from the 17th-century townsman Tycho Gansgeb of Kampa. The island was originally marshy farmland used for bleaching linen and was gradually raised above flood level using debris, especially after the great fire of Malá Strana and Hradčany in 1541. The first houses appeared in the 16th–17th centuries. Kampa was connected to Charles Bridge by a staircase in 1884, and after WWII its private gardens were merged into a single public park. Today the island is home to Museum Kampa, housed in the historic Sova's Mills and exhibiting Central European modern art from the Meda Mládek collection (including major works by František Kupka and Otto Gutfreund), and David Černý's famous Miminka (Babies) sculptures crawling outside the museum. Other landmarks include the Lennon Wall on nearby Velkopřevorské náměstí, the Grand Priory Mill with its working 15th-century mill wheel on the Čertovka, Werich's Villa (former home of actor Jan Werich and earlier of philologist Josef Dobrovský), and the picturesque waterfront stretch nicknamed "Prague's Venice." Kampa was officially named the second most beautiful city island in the world by the traveller portal VirtualTourist.