Jiráskovy sady

Jiráskovy sady was established in stages on Panská louka, between the brewery and the former shooting range, between 1840 and 1841, at the instigation of Baron Wolfgang Julius von Schönau, Secretary of the Beroun Regional Authority, who is said to have personally overseen the planting of the horse-chestnut avenue.

In 1921, to mark the 70th birthday of the writer Alois Jirásek, the gardens were given their name. It was probably at that time that the lime trees were planted along the school buildings. In 1938, as the Second World War loomed, a monument by the sculptor Václav Šára was erected here, featuring the main characters from Jirásek’s novel *Filosofská historie*. Today, the park also features a monument with a bust of Major-General Richard Tesařík, created in 1976 by the sculptor Miloš Hruška.

In 2012–2013, all the ancient trees here underwent professional treatment, and new horse-chestnut, lime and oak trees were planted in suitable locations.

For many former school-leavers, the white flowers of the horse chestnut trees in Jiráskovy sady still remind them of their school-leaving exams. And there is surely no one who, in September, does not bend down to pick up a round horse chestnut to warm it in the palm of their hand.