What's in a Prague street name

Břidličná was built in 1931.

‘Břidlice’ means ‘slate’ – fine-grained sedimentary rocks made from claystones and siltstones.

Slate is usually black or grey, and has excellent insulating properties. It also contains methane, which can be mined as shale gas.

In Czechia, slate is most abundant in Nízký Jeseník – the country’s largest geomorphological region – and in Barrandien, a geological region between Prague and Plzeň.

It’s also quite common here, hence the street name.