What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 20 February 2023.

We don’t know when Horská was built, but it’s decidedly old.

The first documented names for the street are Ztracená (Lost) and Na Ztracené vartě (At the lost guard-post), presumably because, back before multiple roads and public transport were a thing, this was quite a long way from central Prague.

In the 19th century, the street was called Pod Karlovem (before the street we currently know as Pod Karlovem was built – https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/21/prague-2-day-85-pod-karlovem/), and then it was known as Karlovská.

It became known as Horská in 1869. That’s an adjective denoting a mountain or – let’s be fair, we’re in Prague – a hill. The street leads upwards from Na Slupi to the Augustinian Monastery at Karlov.

Horská is also next to Bastion XXXI, U božích muk (‘God’s Torture’) part of Prague’s erstwhile fortifications built in 1348 by Karel IV: https://www.kudyznudy.cz/aktivity/bastion-xxxi-u-bozich-muk-v-praze-na-karlove