What if villages could talk? Petrovice would whisper tales from the 13th century. It was then that this area began as a small village. Today Petrovice is a municipal district of Prague. It sits in the southeastern part of the city. Let’s explore Petrovice.
Petrovice evolved much like other old settlements. It grew near a water source. Rivers and streams provided sustenance. They offered relatively safe passage. Impenetrable forests covered much of the land then. Petrovice’s earliest settlement likely stood on a promontory. It overlooked the Botič stream near the church and chateau. Marshy lowlands protected it from the west and south. Several trade routes passed nearby. One important route was the Prague royal road from Vyšehrad. It skirted Petrovice to the east. This road continued through Pitkovice and Mnichovice. It eventually reached Linz. Sometimes people called it the Horácká road.
The name Petrovice comes from a personal name. It likely belonged to the location’s owner. Some interpret it as “Petr’s village.” Others translate it as “the village of Petr’s people also called Petrovic’s.” We can estimate when the settlement began based on its founder’s name. Petr is Latin. It means stone or rock. People started using the name after 1000 AD. It was when Christianity spread more widely. More people with the name Petr arrived during the 13th century. They founded towns and settlements. The age of the church also suggests the settlement’s beginnings. Historians estimate the stone Church of St James the Elder dates back to after 1250. Since a fort, houses, and a wooden church came first, Petrovice likely dates to the early 13th century.
The first reliable record of Petrovice is from 1352. It appears in the Register of the Papal Tenth. This lists Petrovice as a parish that paid this special tax. Another record identifies the first known owner. Mikuláš Klementer was a Prague burgher. Records show that Volfard was confirmed as the priest in Petrovice on February 5, 1355. He replaced priest Matyáš. Mikuláš Klementer was present as a citizen of Greater Prague.
This record shows that Petrovice belonged to a wealthy burgher. He had the right to choose a new priest. The Klementer family was a rich patrician family. Its members often served as councilors in Greater Prague. A castellan managed the estate in the Petrovice fort. It was almost a day’s ride from Prague. The southern slopes above the Botič stream were good for vineyards. The soil was light and loamy with a stony subsoil. The Klementer family crest featured two grape leaves. This suggests they grew grapes. The crest became the symbol of Prague-Petrovice.
The Klementer family owned Petrovice until 1399. Anna Klementerová brought it as a dowry to her husband Johánek Kbelský. The new owner renovated the church. He added frescoes. Fragments of these can still be seen. The Kbelský family held Petrovice until 1429. Kateřina Kbelská gave it to her husband Jan Kunvaldský. He later became chamberlain to Emperor Sigismund. In the following centuries, Petrovice changed owners many times. It passed through sales, marriages, and inheritances.
Petrovice saw its greatest growth after 1716. František Peceli from Adlersheim bought it then. He replaced the medieval fort with a Baroque chateau. He likely renovated the Church of St James in the Baroque style too. A sacristy and tower with an onion dome were added. A bell from 1694 was moved to the tower in 1776. In the first half of the 18th century, new Baroque windows were added to the church. The original Gothic entrance was bricked up. A new entrance was built under the tower. The portal was restored in 1910. Count Arnošt Emanuel Silva-Tarouca sensitively renovated the church in a neo-Gothic style. The exterior was late Gothic. The interior was neo-Romanesque. It incorporated the oldest elements of the original church.
In 1848, the system of local self-government began. Petrovice had 27 homesteads and 338 residents. It formed a political municipality with Horní Měcholupy. It belonged to the Říčany district until 1920. In 1968, Petrovice joined Prague. Since 1990, Petrovice has been one of Prague’s 57 districts with its own council. Petrovice is more than just a suburb. It has a rich past. Its history spans from early settlements to modern Prague.