Natural monument Ládví, Protected natural area in Prague, Czech Republic

Natural monument Ládví is a protected site in Prague with distinct geological structures and varied plant species occupying a compact area. The ground displays different layers and rock formations alongside the vegetation that grows there.

Ládví was declared a natural monument on 1 October 1982 to protect two wave-cut pockets in the quarry walls, filled with rounded boulders up to two metres across. The hill had already drawn attention: surface finds began in the early 20th century, and a 1973 survey yielded Middle Palaeolithic and Neolithic stone tools, making Ládví one of the few Bohemian sites proving Palaeolithic settlement.

The name Ládví is used both for the hill and for the abandoned quarry on its summit, where buližník (silicit) was extracted for building stone and gravel. Finds of stone tools from surface collections in the early 20th century and systematic research in the 1950s–1970s tied the hill to Middle Palaeolithic and Neolithic settlement. Today the quarry lies in the Ďáblický háj forest park, a spot sought out by people from the nearby neighbourhoods.

The site lies in eastern Prague and is reachable by public transportation, making a visit possible without a car. Visitors should know that the area is small and requires only a short time to explore.

In the western quarry wall, a two-metre boulder lies wedged in a pocket, smoothed by the surf of a sea that covered the hill about 98 million years ago. The clay between the stones has yielded twelve species of foraminifera, ten of which are found nowhere else in the world.