MALA STRANA, Lennon Wall

The lower part of Malà Strana is influenced by the presence of the Order of Malta, and numerous important historical buildings are located around the Grand Priory Square.

However, the square is best known for the John Lennon Wall: a stretch of the wall around the Grand Priory garden covered in graffiti and images of the English music idol who became a symbol of peace after he was murdered on 8 December 1980.

After Lennon’s death, a young man decided to use a piece of the wall to draw a tombstone in his memory, which was immediately surrounded by candles and drawings of flowers.

In 1981, a Mexican art student is reputed to have painted a mural on the wall depicting Lennon’s face, to which other graffiti were then added.

You must bear in mind that rock music, including the Beatles, was forbidden by the Communist regime, because it was believed young people would be corrupted by its capitalist values, so the police ordered that the wall be painted over in green....