What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on Twitter on 17 January 2023.

Pod Nuselskými schody was built around 1895.

This translates as ‘Under the Nusle steps’. Which are visible in this photo (just), and connect today’s street with Šafaříkova (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/07/06/prague-2-day-61-safarikova/).

Like Žižkov, Vinohrady and many more, Nusle was a separate village, which later became a town, and then became part of Prague in 1922.

First mentioned in the 11th century, it appeared under various names in the Middle Ages: Neosvětly, Nostuly, Nůsly, Neosvitly and Neovstlí.

Interestingly, despite the name of the street, the steps themselves don’t have an official name.

The current set of steps was built in the late 19th century, at the same time as the southern Vinohrady railway tunnels, and the extension of the tram line along Bělehradská.

In 2011, a driver (who refused to be breathalysed) managed to get his Škoda Octavia down the steps without any major damage: https://www.idnes.cz/zpravy/cerna-kronika/octavia-skoncila-uprostred-nuselskych-schodu-ridil-zrejme-opilec.A110630_113211_praha-zpravy_mav

I cannot describe the extent to which this thread is not an endorsement of that.