Michelská was built in… well, probably quite a long time ago, at least parts of it were.
Part of a long road connecting Michle and Krč, the part of Michelská that is actually in Michle was called Palackého (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/31/prague-2-day-145-palackeho-namesti/) from 1900 to 1935, while the Krč part remained Michelská.
Michle (no, Google, I thought the fact that I’m writing this from a Czech IP address would be a clue, but I DID NOT MEAN ‘MICHAEL’), got an indirect mention in 1185, when a father and son, subjects of the Vyšehrad Chapter, were described as being ‘de Michel’.
Then, in 1279, someone called Jindřich z Michle was a witness to a contract signed by the Abbot of Břevnov (to which, after that date, Michle belonged).
Despite my earlier comments, the name ‘Michle’ probably does denote that there was a farmstead here that belonged to someone called Michal or similar. It was a pretty large settlement, large enough to include a synagogue, which will get more coverage in the coming days.
In 1420, the Prague Hussites – who also besieged Vyšehrad Castle about this time – took control of Michle.
In 1436, King Sigismund sold it to Jan Reček of Ledce, a maltster who would be key in the development of Prague University two years later (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/19/prague-3-day-24-reckova/).
Reček insisted that income gained from Michle should be used to fund the studies of twelve Czech students in the Old Town.
In 1506, one Jiří Kopidlanský, slightly annoyed that his brother had been executed by the citizens of Prague, had Michle burnt to the ground. It was rebuilt.
From the late 1500s, Michle was run by Jesuits from the college of St Ignatius (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/01/prague-2-day-164-karlovo-namesti/).
Reflecting its previous ownership, the Faculties of Arts and Law of Charles-Ferdinand University owned Michle until serfdom was abolished in 1848.
By 1900, Michle had about 6,100 inhabitants and a good deal of industry; by 1922, when it was incorporated into Prague, it had 9,300. Nowadays, it has about 21,500 inhabitants.
This is quite a potted history, of course, because we’ve got a lot of Michle to talk about over the coming months, albeit not all of it, because a small-ish part of it is in Prague 10.
For those of you who, like me, think ‘Nusle’ and ‘Michle’ are quite similar names: Nusle is (slash are) feminine plural – so one could live ‘v Nuslích’, whereas Michle is feminine singular, meaning one could live ‘v Michli’.
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