What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 7 March 2023.

Na Děkance was built in 1884.

Until 1909, this was Komenského, as in Comenius, as in https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/26/prague-3-day-82-komenskeho-namesti/.

The land on this street was owned by the Vyšehrad deanery, i.e. the děkanství. In 1885, a school called Na Děkance was opened here.

There had been two local schools – Vyšehrad School (Vyšehradská) and the Castle School (Hrádecká), but, in both cases, their buildings were insufficient to give kids a proper education.

Therefore, the decision was made to close both schools, and send their pupils to a brand new one, nearby and with more space and better facilities.

Its main entrance in on Botičská, though, and its name has changed accordingly, to Základní Škola Botičská. It’s a primary school, but there’s a Gymnasium on the street too.

If I’ve read a slightly ambiguous sentence on Wikipedia correctly, the most famous person to have attended the primary school was Jiří Payne, an ODS politician who then moved over to the Svobodní party and has been an advisor to Václav Klaus. Bet they loved him in Brussels.

For those who wish this series were a bit more Prague 4 (approx start date: 2025; platform: probably not this one the way things are going), Park Na Děkance is also one of the alternative names for the the central park in Pankrác.