Kotva Department Store is a department store in Prague at the Náměstí Republiky (Republic Square). Its name, meaning anchor in English, comes from an older neighboring building.
It was a member of the International Association of Department Stores from 1993 to 2000.
Historic build-up area
On the site of the department store stood the Romanesque church of St. Benedict. Before the mid-13th century, there was a commandry of Prague Teutonic Knights which had a fortress character and was related to current fortifications built in the Old Town. Strahov premonstratensians in the 17th century established a campus Norbertinum here and a baroque church was rebuilt according to plans by Domenico Orsi, newly consecrated as St. Norbert. The church was demolished in the late 18th century due to the construction of the New Town noblewomen Institute. During the construction of the department store, valuable houses from the 19th and 20th century were demolished. Due to time pressure during construction, significant archeologic areas were lost.[1]