A tram passes the Hotel Roma in the lower part of Mala Strana . In antiquity, Malá Strana was named Male M ? Sto Pražské ( The small city of Prague). Male M ? Sto Pražské was created in 1257 by an amalgamation of settlements that stretched under the Prague Castle, constitute a single administrative unit . This was under the reign of P ? Emysl Otakar II . The newly founded nucleus obtained permission from a population more Real and various privileges . Residents were mostly German craftsmen invited by the King. Despite the royal status , the King did not control the whole city . By mid-century the city changed its name to Mala Strana . During the Middle Ages , Malá Strana was the most important center of the ethnic Germans in Prague established . It was also the site of the settlement of several palaces of the nobility , as opposed to the people of the right bank , comparatively , were more bourgeois . Malá Strana ( which literally means " Little Side " , though it is often translated as " Small Town " , "Little Quarter " or " Small Town " ) is the original name and now also the officer of the area formerly MENSI m ? sto Pražské ( "The District Little Prague " ) , one of the oldest districts of greater historical representation in Prague . The name of this district is due to its position on the left bank of the Vltava river , in the downs that are at the foot of Prague Castle, in opposition to the larger settlements that were on the other side of the river . The famous Czech novelist Jan Neruda was born and lived most of his life in this place, and several of his works deal with Malá Strana . The nobre Nerudova takes after him . Among other attractions of the city of Prague, the observation tower Pet ? Ín is in Malá Strana . Also in this area is the famous statue of the Infant Jesus of Prague , in the interior of the Church of Our Lady Victorious . The devotion of millions of Catholics has made this church is an important landmark in the city .