Na Příkopě (On the Moat) – along with Revoluční (Revolution), 28.října (28 October 1918; Czechoslovak Independence Day) and Národní třída (National Ave) – follows the line of the moat that once ran along the foot of Staré Město’s city walls (the moat was filled in at the end of the 18th century).
Na Příkopě meets Wenceslas Square at Na Můstku (On the Little Bridge). A small stone bridge once crossed the moat here – you can still see a remaining arch in the underground entrance to Můstek metro station, on the left just past the ticket machines.
In the 19th century, this fashionable street was the haunt of Prague’s German cafe society. Today it is (along with Wenceslas Square and Pařížská) the city’s main upmarket shopping precinct, lined with banks, shopping malls and tourist cafes.