Letná, Hill in Prague 7, Czech Republic

Letná is a hill and neighbourhood in Prague 7, rising above a bend of the Vltava north of the historic centre, across Bubeneč and Holešovice. Its flat top, Letenská pláň, adjoins Letenské sady park along the southern edge of the hill.

In 1420 Sigismund of Luxembourg camped here during the first crusade against the Hussites, and Habsburg, French, Prussian and Swedish armies later used the plain, which blocked permanent settlement. Rudolf II had the Rudolfova štola tunnel driven through the hill from the Vltava in 1584–1593 to supply water to the Royal Game Reserve. Soviet invasion helicopters landed on Letenská pláň in August 1968.

Letná Plain has been Prague's main stage for mass gatherings: on 25 and 26 November 1989, some 800,000 people demonstrated here during the Velvet Revolution, and in June 2019 about 250,000 protested against Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. Michael Jackson opened his HIStory World Tour on the plain in September 1996 before roughly 120,000 spectators.

Trams run across Letenská pláň and along Chotkova and Badeniho streets, and the riverside route below the hill links Malá Strana with Holešovice. The slope is steep, so paths from the Vltava climb sharply; the plateau itself is level and suited to walking. The Rudolfova štola water tunnel runs beneath Nad štolou and Čechova streets.

The metronome on Letná Plain was installed in 1991 on the pedestal of the Stalin Monument, unveiled in 1955 and demolished in 1962 during de-Stalinization. The giant granite plinth once carried the largest Stalin statue in Europe.