What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on Twitter on 9 November 2022.

Kunětická was built in 1911.

Kunětická hora is the name of both a hill near Pardubice and the ruins of a castle standing on it.

Traces of fortifications indicate that the hill was already inhabited in prehistoric times.

Václav Hájek of Libočany’s Chronicle (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/19/prague-3-day-15-hajkova/) – admittedly not seen as a hugely accurate source – states that the hill was named in the 800s by Kunak, a courtier of the mythical Bohemian prince Křesomysl.

The castle was founded around 1300.

In 1420, the Hussites gathered a camp here from which they marched to Hradec Králové. Fourteen years later, the castle was given to Diviš Bořek by Emperor Sigismund, following the former’s success at the Battle of Lipany (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/12/23/prague-3-day-120-lipanska/).

It was purchased in 1491 by Vilém of Pernštejn, who started renovating it in a Gothic style. Ownership passed within the Pernštejn family until 1560, when debts forced them to sell the the castle to Maximilian II.

The Swedes burned the castle in 1645; the ruins continued to fall into disrepair despite plans to salvage them.

Parts of the castle had to be closed in the 1970s, and it didn’t become accessible to the public again until 1993.

Reconstruction, overseen by the Pardubice Museum Society, was completed in 1996 – 73 years after it had started. It’s now open as a museum.

This painting from 1819 is by Joann Venuto.

And there are some great views from the air on https://www.visitczechia.com/en-us/things-to-do/places/landmarks/castles-and-ruins/c-kuneticka-hora-castle.