Why Přírodní park Drahaň-Troja stands out
The park is best known for its rocky steppe habitats with thermophilic flora and invertebrates, which are unusually well developed in the middle of a major European capital. Sites such as Podhoří and Jabloňka host communities of Festuca pallens, Aurinia saxatilis, Dictamnus albus, and rare species like Inula germanica that depend on open, sun-exposed rocks. Equally distinctive is the deep, layered valley system of the Trojská kotlina, where Bohnické, Čimické, and Drahanské valleys cut through Proterozoic bedrock down to the Vltava. The combination of protected steppes, deep valleys, a botanical garden, and a major zoo in one continuous periurban green space makes Drahaň-Troja a defining natural area for Prague.
Přírodní park Drahaň-Troja history and protected-area timeline
The territory of today's nature park has been inhabited since the Neolithic and contains prehistoric fortified hilltop sites, including the Zámky and Na Farkách hillforts. The inhabitants of Na Farkách were known for fruit cultivation and viticulture, and a building called Sklenářka, locally referred to as Katovna, once functioned as a wine press. The slopes of the basin were used continuously for vineyards, orchards, and pasture on the least fertile soils.
Until the 19th century the basin was shaped by vineyards and orchards, with grazing on the poorest ground. After deforestation in the 19th century, most vineyards and orchards were abandoned and gradually overgrown by low forest or artificially replanted with black locust. Today only traces of this agricultural landscape remain, notably the Sv. Klára and Salabka vineyards in Troja. The ancient rocky steppes survived in places such as Podhoří and Jabloňka, where quartzite was historically quarried.
Modern protection began when the Prague National Committee declared the area a quiet zone on 1 November 1990. After the adoption of the new nature conservation law in 1992, the territory was reclassified as a přírodní park. The designation was motivated by the need to protect the overall landscape character and especially the rocky steppe communities. Since that time the area has become closely linked with the Periurban Parks international initiative, focused on the conservation and management of periurban green spaces under European environmental policy.
Přírodní park Drahaň-Troja landscape and geographic character
The landscape of Drahaň-Troja is built on a sequence of deeply cut valleys descending to the Vltava. The main relief features are the valleys of the Bohnický, Čimický, and Drahaňský streams. These valleys divide the right-bank plateau into a series of steep rocky spurs and dry ridges, giving the basin its characteristic rugged appearance despite being inside a major city.
Elevation differences are pronounced. The lowest point lies along the Vltava at Podhoří, around 176 meters above sea level, while the highest point is the siliceous summit called Velká skála, reaching about 314 meters. This vertical range of roughly 140 meters occurs within a relatively small area and produces sharp changes in slope, exposure, and microclimate.
Geologically, the park exposes Upper Proterozoic rocks of the Kralupy-Zbraslav group, including shales, greywackes, and yellowish rhyolite veins formed by late Precambrian volcanic activity. These are overlain in parts by Ordovician quartzites, best exposed at Jabloňka. The hard siliceous rocks give rise to the cliff-like rocky steppe outcrops, while the softer shales form gentler slopes. The combination of hard summit rocks, steep steppe slopes, forested valley sides, and the broad Vltava corridor defines the park's distinctive topography.
Přírodní park Drahaň-Troja ecosystems, habitats, and plant life
The ecological identity of Drahaň-Troja is centered on its rare rocky steppe communities. These open, sun-exposed habitats support xerothermic shrubs such as Prunus spinosa, Sorbus torminalis, Euonymus europaeus, and Berberis vulgaris, together with dwarf oaks and characteristic herbaceous species. Notable thermophilic plants include Cornus mas, Prunus mahaleb, Festuca pallens, Aurinia saxatilis, Carex humilis, Potentilla arenaria, Oxytropis pilosa, Aster linosyris, Dictamnus albus, Geranium sanguineum, and Sesleria caerulea. Heather communities on siliceous substrates occur at Salabka, Havránka, and in Čimické údolí.
Before human activity the entire Trojská kotlina was covered by mixed oak woodland of hornbeam, beech, rowan, and maple. A shift to drier climate at the end of the Bronze Age transformed the area into forest-steppe, which was then further opened by centuries of grazing, viticulture, and orchard use into the open steppe landscape seen today. Many of the current forest stands are recent plantations from the 1920s, including Robinia pseudoacacia, Picea abies, and North American Quercus rubra, originally established as anti-erosion measures. Black locust proved especially successful in colonizing these warm, dry slopes.
Local microhabitats add further ecological diversity. Jabloňka preserves undisturbed rocky walls with therophyte communities, while the slopes of Zámky shelter Gagea bohemica, Veronica campestris, and the only known Prague population of Helichrysum arenarium. Valley bottoms with cooler, moister conditions support richer fungal communities and provide nesting habitat for forest birds. Throughout the park, maintaining open rocky surfaces is considered essential to preserve these thermophilic communities in the long term.
Přírodní park Drahaň-Troja wildlife and species highlights
The wildlife of Drahaň-Troja reflects its warm, dry steppe character combined with sheltered valley forests. Invertebrates dominate the rocky habitats, including beetle species such as Labidostomis humeralis and numerous weevils, the rare butterfly Scolitantides orion, and the spectacular spider Eresus kollari. The thermophilic dipluran Catajapyx aquilonaris is exceptionally rare in the park, with Podhoří holding one of its few known Czech localities. Cvrčivec révový, a distinctive singing insect of warm slopes, also occurs here.
Amphibians and reptiles find refuge in the damper valley bottoms and steppe margins. Salamandra salamandra and Triturus vulgaris are occasionally recorded, while Lacerta agilis, Anguis fragilis, and the green lizard Lacerta viridis are relatively common in sunny habitats. The smooth snake Coronella austriaca has been observed in the Trojská kotlina steppes, marking the park as an important lowland reptile refuge within an urban context.
Birds of deciduous woodland and parkland are widespread, with Dendrocopos major, Picus viridis, Sylvia borin, Sylvia atricapilla, and Sylvia curruca among the characteristic species. Čimické údolí is particularly rich in breeding birds, including the short-toed treecreeper, tree pipit, goldfinch, and several warbler species. The combination of cliff, steppe, valley forest, and riparian habitat along the Vltava gives the park a notably diverse bird community for such a small, urban-adjacent area.
Přírodní park Drahaň-Troja conservation status and protection priorities
The whole territory of Drahaň-Troja is considered valuable for biological, ecological, geomorphological, and historical reasons. Its eastern part overlaps the village monument zone of Staré Bohnice, integrating cultural heritage protection with nature protection. The park participates in the international Periurban Parks project, which addresses the threats typically facing periurban parks: urbanization, pollution, illegal dumping, and invasion by non-native species.
A central conservation concern is the preservation of open rocky steppe habitats. Without traditional grazing or controlled burning, heather and steppe communities tend to age out within roughly 20 to 25 years after the last disturbance, potentially leading to their disappearance. Conservation plans therefore recommend reintroducing low-intensity sheep grazing, around five animals per hectare year-round, or establishing regular rotational burning of heather stands on roughly ten-year cycles. Removal of encroaching shrubs and invasive black locust is also part of ongoing management, particularly in Podhoří and Čimické údolí.
Several smaller protected sites within the park carry specific responsibilities. Jabloňka is protected for its Ordovician geological profile of shales and quartzites, as well as its thermophilic insect habitats. Salabka and Havránka are included in the Natura 2000 network for their dry heaths and rare insect communities. Across the entire park, the long-term conservation goal is to restore and maintain native oak-hornbeam forests while preserving open thermophilic steppes as a defining feature of the landscape.
Přírodní park Drahaň-Troja cultural meaning and human context
The Trojská kotlina basin has been continuously inhabited and modified by humans for thousands of years. Prehistoric hillforts at Zámky and Na Farkách reflect an early settlement pattern tied to defensible rocky summits above the Vltava, and the Slavic-era Zámky hillfort (6th to 8th century) is preserved today as an archaeological park. Viticulture and fruit growing shaped the local economy for centuries, leaving visible remains in the surviving St. Clare and Salabka vineyards and in old farm buildings such as Sklenářka and Pazderka.
The basin also carries an unusually dense concentration of cultural monuments for a nature-protected area. Within or near the park lie the Trojský zámek with its orangery and historical outbuildings, the chapel of St. Clare, the chapel of St. Wenceslas in Podhoří, and protected village zones such as Staré Bohnice and Rybáře. Villas and family housing built in the 19th and 20th centuries replaced much of the former agricultural landscape, while the Prague Zoo and Botanical Garden established a new cultural focal point on the southern edge of the basin.
Today the park functions as a cultural bridge between Prague's dense residential districts and the open countryside to the north. Historic paths, small Vltava ferries, and modern cycling routes, including the Vltavská stezka, connect local communities and visitors with both the natural and the built heritage of the basin. The interplay of protected steppe, historic vineyards, hillfort archaeology, and periurban housing defines the cultural character of Drahaň-Troja as much as its ecological value does.
Top sights and standout views in Přírodní park Drahaň-Troja
Drahaň-Troja combines Prague's oldest exposed rocks with one of its richest concentrations of thermophilic rocky steppe habitats. Its three main valleys, Bohnické, Čimické, and Drahanské, and the dramatic rise from the Vltava at Podhoří to Velká skála give the park a real sense of relief despite its urban setting. Visitors encounter rare steppe plants, breeding birds of deciduous valley forest, and thriving populations of thermophilic invertebrates rarely found elsewhere in the Czech Republic.
The park is also unusual in embedding internationally visited institutions, Prague Zoo and the Prague Botanical Garden, within a continuously protected natural landscape. Layered on top of this are Neolithic and Slavic hillforts, baroque and 19th-century architecture, vineyards, and villa districts, making Drahaň-Troja a place where geological time, ecological rarity, and Prague's urban story converge within a single periurban corridor.
Best time to visit Přírodní park Drahaň-Troja
The character of Drahaň-Troja changes clearly with the seasons. Spring brings the most active flowering of the rocky steppes, when thermophilic plants such as Pulsatilla, Gagea bohemica, and various rockroses color the open slopes and bird song intensifies in the wooded valleys. Early summer is the peak period for thermophilic insects, making it the best time to observe the park's specialized invertebrate fauna.
Late summer and early autumn offer dry, warm conditions ideal for exploring the steppe communities and for longer walks along the Vltava, including the Vltavská stezka cycling route. Autumn also reveals the geological drama of the basin, as the deciduous woodlands in the valleys shift color against the persistent green of the evergreen plantations, while Podhoří and other rocky outcrops remain dry and accessible. Winter, when snow is light, still allows clear views across the bare steppe slopes and the silhouette of Velká skála above the Vltava, though some smaller monuments may be partly fenced or managed for conservation work at this time.
