It is called TTTM Sapa, also known as Prague’s Little Hanoi, and represents the largest Vietnamese enclave in the Czech Republic. Located in the districts of Libuš and Kunratice, the area was born in the early 2000s from the conversion of a former poultry farm and is often described as a true “city within the city”. Sapa is considered the symbolic capital of the Czech Vietnamese community, today the third largest ethnic minority in the country after Ukrainians and Slovaks.
A community founded on commerce
The Vietnamese presence in Prague is strongly linked to commercial activities. Most of the neighborhood minimarkets, the well-known potraviny, are run by Vietnamese families and are a daily reference for food shopping. Sapa represents the fulcrum of this system: an area of approximately 250 thousand square meters, equal to 35 hectares, in which approximately seven thousand people work.
Not just the market: schools, services and spirituality
Reducing Sapa to a large market does not do justice to its complexity. Inside the complex there are schools, kindergartens, language centers, martial arts courses, medical offices, childcare services, meeting places and even a Buddhist temple. The community also has self-managed information channels, including a local television. In January 2025, the symbolic importance of the area was confirmed by the official visit of Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính.
A piece of Vietnam far from Europe
Passing the monumental Asian-style entrance means entering a completely different dimension. The atmosphere is more reminiscent of a Vietnamese city than a European neighborhood, also due to the limited presence of Western visitors and a clientele almost entirely made up of members of the community.
The market develops between covered warehouses, where the shops follow one another without visual interruptions, and a large outdoor area dedicated to the most disparate activities.
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Between exotic products and services of all kinds
In Sapa you can find a truly incredible variety of goods and services. From fresh food products to spices, from live fish to exotic fruit such as dragon fruit, through goose eggs, clothing, housewares, beauty centers, barbers, body shops and car washes. Sales take place both retail and wholesale, making the area the main supply point for the city’s potraviny. Payments are made exclusively in cash and the prices, which are rarely displayed, encourage very welcome informal bargaining.
Authentic cuisine, without adaptations
Among the alleys of the complex the scent of phở bò accompanies visitors to the small internal restaurants. The venues offer genuine cuisine, without adaptations for the European public. The dishes are simple but intense in flavour, the service is essential and the prices are particularly low, for a gastronomic experience that closely resembles a trip to Vietnam rather than a lunch break in the heart of Europe.
