What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 23 May 2024.

In the early 1300s (we’ll call this the ‘John of Bohemia era’), there were already meat shops around here.

The local butchers formed their own guild in 1359, and regarded St Jacob’s as their place of worship (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/11/prague-1-day-185-jakubska/).

The street (which was smaller at the time) therefore became known as Masný trh (‘Meat market’), while, at other times, U masných krámů (‘The Meat Shops’) and Masnotrhová (also ‘Meat market’, but an adjective) were used.

In 1870, various streets were joined together, and were called Masná.

There are several streets around here named after markets. Here’s another one: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/11/prague-1-day-184-rybna/.