What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 16 October 2023.

You’ll have been down these (if you planned your sightseeing round Prague sensibly), or up them (if you didn’t).

Back in the Middle Ages, there was a road here, aptly called Strmá cesta (Steep Road).

At some point, these were replaced by the steps (which have basically had the same form since the 1600s).

They’ve had their name for most of this time, except between 1829 and 1870, when they were known as the Nové zámecké schody (New Castle Stairs).

They were given that name to distinguish them from the Staré zámecké schody (Old Castle Stairs), which should be covered in the next 10-20 posts. And which are actually newer than these, because life doesn’t always make sense.

There are 220 of these old-new steps, covering a height of almost 37 metres.