The Devil's Channel
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a mysterious arm of the Vltava River
A blind arm of the Vltava, where you can hear the clatter of a wooden mill wheel and where you can sail on small boats.
The Devil's Channel separates Kampa Island from the Lesser Quarter and is 740 m long. It is fed by a several-hundred-metre-long tunnel from the upper part of the Smíchov locks above the Legion Bridge. It then flows back into the Vltava River behind the Charles Bridge. In the Middle Ages, this channel was modified by the Johannites when they needed to regulate the flow of water for the mills. Three of them have been preserved till today, including the wooden mill wheel of the Grand Priory Mill.
The Devil's Channel is surrounded on both sides by picturesque townhouses that reach to the water and create a romantic corner. Among the most important ones are the Herget brickworks, the Renaissance house U tří pštrosů, the remains of the Huť Mill, the Zlomkov Mill and the Grand Priory Mill. Then closer are the Sova's Mills.
The origin of the name Devil's Channel is not entirely clear. It first appears in the 19th century and is probably derived from the house named U sedmi čertů (At the Seven Devils). According to another theory, its name is related to the legend of a devilish woman who lived in Maltézské Square near the Devil's Channel.
The Devil's Channel has attracted many filmmakers with its uniqueness and picturesqueness. Films that were shot here include The Octopuses from the Second Floor (Chobotnice z druhého patra), Milos Forman's Amadeus and Mission Impossible.
