Basic information
The Čech Park, the second oldest Olomouc city park area, dates back to the 30s of the 19th century. The tree alley, later named Jánská Alley (Johannes Alle) was planted in the vicinity of roads linking the former Litovel suburbs with the Theresian Gate.
Like the Rudolf Alley (today the Smetana Park), the Jánská Alley was felled after the outbreak of the Austro-Prussian War. It was restored right after the war and it didn’t undergo a major change until 1882, when the Imperial War Ministry ceded it to the city. Max Machánek, who had designed the main avenue in the Smetana Park, prepared a project which transformed the alley into a public park in a natural landscape style. The Čech Park, which has carried its current name since 1918, is a park designed in particular for recreation. The canopy consists mainly of common species of trees; the rarest is the Willow-leaved Poplar (Populus angustifolia) originating from western North America.
The park includes the Memorial of Olomouc’s liberation by the Soviet Army unveiled in 1945, a statue of Božena Němcová by Professor V. Navrátil and a memorial dedicated to the significant Olomouc graphic designer Karel Wellner by sculptor Karel Lenhart. The park has an architectural showpiece as well – the Litovelská Gate, formerly part of the Olomouc Fortress, which was moved next to the park’s entrance in 1896.