What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 10 October 2023.

Until the Middle Ages, this was the location of a stream, flowing from Strahov to the Vltava.  This was then replaced with a street – Vlašská (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/08/prague-1-day-31-vlasska/).

Then, in the late 1700s, the marketplace on Malostranské náměstí was moved to here. 

And – as you might be guessing if you don’t know already – a tržiště is a marketplace.  And this became its own street.

However, it took until 1870 for the street to get its current name – iterations in place before then included ‘Nový trh’ (New Market), ‘Novotržní’ (ditto but an adjective), ‘Vaječný trh’ (Egg Market) and ‘Selský trh’ (Salt Market).

As befits a long-ish street in Malá Strana, Tržiště is not without its fair share of interesting buildings.

Number 15, Schönborn Palace, was built in the mid-1650s, and, in 1925, was purchased by some entity apparently known as the United States Government for USD 117,000.  It’s been their Embassy ever since.

Next door, number 13, AKA Vratislav Palace, hosts the Irish Embassy and one of the 33 embassies that the Republic of Kosovo currently has around the world.

Finally, U Ježíška (number 19) is apparently the site of a former nunnery. It was lived in by a young František Palacký (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/31/prague-2-day-145-palackeho-namesti/) when he first arrived in Prague and is now the site of Alchymist, possibly the best located hotel I can think of.

Just adding this photo to the thread to show that, even in Malá Strana, you can find a bit of peace and quiet if you know where to look (and this was taken at a weekend).