Invalidovna is a metro station on line B in Prague Karlín district. It is named after the nearby Invalidovna, a former dormitory for war veterans (like Les Invalides in Paris).
Invalidovna Metro Station Location
The metro station is situated in Sokolovská, which is the main street with trams stretching from Florenc to Palmovka and Vysočanská metro stations, all on line B. The metro goes parallel to this street and the stations on this section, ordered from city centre out, are Florenc, Křižíkova, Invalidovna and Palmovka. The entrance to Invalidovna station is between Za Invalidovnou and Nekvasilova streets. Besides from Sokolovská it is also accessible from the other side from Molákova Street.
Tram Services from Invalidovna
Tram services are very frequent here and on shorter distances tram may actually be faster than the metro, which is quite deep under the ground and the way to the platforms can be long.
In direction to city centre the trams take you from Invalidovna to Florenc and Náměstí Republiky. In the other direction you can get to Palmovka and further either to Libeň or Kobylisy.
Invalidovna – the Building
Though much less known than other Prague landmarks, Invalidovna is a very valuable historical building (actually a complex of buildings).
It was built in the second half of the 18th century, inspired by the better known “Invalidovna” – Les Invalides in Paris. The architects were Josef Emanuel Fischer of Erlach and Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer. Originally, Invalidovna was planned to house as many as 4,000 war invalids and their families, but only a fraction of the original project was eventually built.
In the 20th century Invalidovna was transformed into the main building of Central Military Archive (Vojenský ústřední archiv). In 2002 it was heavily damaged by the great Prague flood and big parts of the archived materials were destroyed. Invalidovna underwent an extensive reconstruction in the recent years and it is planned that it will change its role again – most likely it will be used by Prague Charles University in the future.