What's in a Prague street name

Nad cementárnou was built in 1935.

False friend alert: a ‘cementárna’ is not a cemetery, even though one is nearby and has given its name to a street in the area. It’s a cement factory.

Such a factory was opened in Podolí in 1871. It soon ran into financial difficulties, as the Vienna Stock Exchange crashed in 1873, but it survived due to its strong share capital.

A fire in 1879 also had a negative effect on the factory’s productivity, although things got back on track about five years later. Having leased the limestone quarries in Braník shortly after it opened, the factory purchased further quarries in the area in the 1890s.

Production nosedived again during World War One; while things picked up afterwards (thanks, also, to reconstruction of the plant), 1929 brought another fire and the Great Depression, and the factory’s days were numbered.

Operations ultimately ceased in 1941. The location of the factory is now the location of the Podolí swimming baths, which opened in 1965.

There are some great photos on https://podzemi.solvayovylomy.cz/techpam/podoli/podoli.htm.