What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 2 September 2023.

Jelení was named in 1870.

A jelen is a stag. The street is named after Jelení příkop – the Deer Moat – a moat which separates the promontory of Prague Castle and the castle’s northern forecourt.

In 1534, Ferdinand I had had the Královská zahrada / Royal Gardens built, and, a year later, a bridge was created to join these with Prague Castle. More on that here: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/06/prague-1-day-5-u-prasneho-mostu/

Destroyed in the Malá Strana fire of 1541 (see below), it was soon rebuilt.

Later, during the reign of Rudolph II (1575 to 1608slash11itscomplicated), game were introduced to the garden, hence the name, and hence hunting until the 1740s or so.

Jelení příkop’s wildlife days weren’t over, though – in the 1920s, President Masaryk received two bears as a gift from legionnaires in Russia and set up what is apparently known as a medvědárium here, because Czech is awesome.

On 8 May 1945, during the Prague Uprising, 21 Czechs, both soldiers and civilians, were tortured and murdered by the occupying forces on the moat’s ramp. Something about the fact that ten of them were never even identified really hits you.

Jelení příkop was closed to the public pretty much from that moment on, only being fully reopened in 1999. It’s quite nice to walk around.

Why not liven your breakfast up with this footage of the most 1998 music festival ever, which was also held at JP: