What's in a Prague street name
Every street in Prague, one by one.
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I could talk about myself for ages, or I could point out that https://english.radio.cz/ed-ley-englishman-recording-stories-pragues-streets-one-one-8806941 is over two years old but still largely stands (other than the Twitter links).
Category: 1925
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K Novému dvoru was built in 1925. K Novému dvoru is named after the former farmstead Nový dvůr (New Court), as is the nearby main road, Novodvorská (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/01/11/prague-4-day-276-novodvorska/). From 1925 to 1930, the street was called Mikoláše Aleše, after one of the greatest Czech painters; you can learn more about him on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/22/prague-1-day-210-alsovo-nabrezi-ales-embankment/ (which is…
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Na rovinách was built in 1925. It’s flat round here. And the street is, as its name says, on a plain (or, as it’s in the plural, ‘plains’). We’ve been in very similar name territory in Prague 4 already: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/09/09/prague-4-day-167-v-rovinach/.
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U lesa was built in 1925. We’re back on the street names that represent the surroundings – ‘U lesa’ is quite literally by a forest, namely Velký háj, which got a bit of attention on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/01/04/prague-4-day-270-nad-lesnim-divadlem/. This piece – published yesterday – indicates that the intended revival of the forest theatre is progressing quite nicely:…
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Na dubině was built in 1925. I said there’d be a new story today. It turns out that I lied. ‘Dubina’ is an oak forest, and we’ve been here before: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/02/06/prague-4-day-302-k-dubinam/. I promise that tomorrow’s post is completely new and not a dubina, a zátiší or a lysina.
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V Zátiší was built in 1925. It was looking a bit slippery when I was round here, so here you can see the street at the end, rather than a street sign. I did say that there would be a set (four, I currently believe) of Zátiší-based streets, and, as this is the second of them,…
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V lučinách was built in 1925. Until 1952, the street was part of V Zátiší (coming up), but then it was separated and became its own street. A further portion of V Zátiší was given to V lučinách in 1979. A ‘lučina’ is a synonym for ‘louka’, i.e. a meadow. We’ve been on this topic…
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Na Lysinách was built in 1925. When talking about humans and their heads, a ‘lysina’ is a bald spot. When talking about landscapes, a ‘lysina’ is a forest area without vegetation, and so the area around here was once known as such. Based on my walk around the area last weekend (and a new record for…
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V mokřinách was built in 1925, and separated from another street (V Zátiší) in 1938. ‘Mokřina’ means ‘marsh’, ‘fen’, or ‘bog’, and reflects the surroundings. The area got a bit of a glow-up in 2019: https://www.praha-priroda.cz/vodni-plochy-a-potoky/vodni-toky/zatissky-potok/revitalizace-a-opravy-na-zatisskem-potoce/revitalizace-v-mokrinach/.
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Klánova was built in 1925. Václav Klán was born in Černošice (nowadays in Prague-West) in 1839. He was working as a clerk in Zbraslav when an aunt left him some rocky land in Radotín (nowadays in Prague 16). He later sold this to a mining company (Radotín is famed for its limestone), making a nice…
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Korandova was built in 1925. We don’t know when Václav Koranda was born, but we do know that, by 1414, he had founded a Hussite community in Plzeň, taking part in and often leading pilgrimages to the mountains. Leaving Plzeň in 1419, he joined Jan Žižka’s forces, and took part in the Battle of Sudoměř…
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Polední was built in 1925. ‘Polední’ is the adjective from ‘poledne’, midday or noon. You might be reading this on your ‘polední přestávka’ (lunch break). In Polish (but not in Czech), ‘południe’ means not only ‘noon’ but ‘south’ (and, yes, the word for ‘midnight’, ‘północ’ also means ‘north’). This is the first in a series of…
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Údolní was built in 1925. At one end of this street, you’ve got a hill with Braník Brewery (no longer brewing) on top of it (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/12/13/prague-4-day-258-nad-branickym-pivovarem/). At the other end, I’m going to assume we’re also on a hill, but will confirm that when we get to the streets around there. Hills or not, the street…
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Zálesí was built in 1925. Zalesí is behind (za) a forest (les). If you want to know what to call that forest, you’re kind of spoiled for choice: you can call it Kunratický les (colloquially: Kunraťák), Krčský les (colloquially: Krčák) or, in its northwest, Michelský les. As we’ll be going through Krč, Michle and Kunratice…
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Na výstupu was built in 1925. Anybody who’s ever taken the Prague Metro will know that ‘výstup’ is one of the two things that you have to complete when the doors are closing (or, ideally, slightly before), the other one being ‘nástup’. Anybody who’s ever taken public transport to or from Braník will also know…
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Kamenitá was built in 1925. Another one that describes the street’s physical features – ‘kamenita’ translates as ‘stony’, ‘rocky’, or ‘pebbly’.
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Nad branickým pivovarem was built in 1925. In 1899, thirteen Prague brewers, feeling that industrialisation had caused them to lose their competitive edge, decided that Prague needed a new, modern brewery. In 1900, the Společenský pivovar pražských sládků – Prague Brewers’ Community Brewery – opened. The complex consists of seven Neo-Renaissance and Art Nouveau buildings,…
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K Ryšánce was built in 1925. This area was originally covered by vineyards. Around 1858, a neo-Gothic farmstead was built here, joining nearby farmsteads such as Dobeška (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/10/08/prague-4-day-192-na-dobesce/) and Zemanka (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/10/23/prague-4-day-207-na-zemance/). The residential building was converted into a chateau around 1860; the owner at the time was one Mr Ryšánek. The farmstead, which had initially been…
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U dubu was built in 1925. A ‘dub’ is an oak tree. Once upon a time, Slavs venerated oak trees which were dedicated to Perun, who was the god of the sky, thunder, lightning, storms, rain, law, war and, yes, oak trees (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2023/12/23/prague-3-day-183-perunova/). But oaks aren’t just important to the Slavs – the oak is…
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Zapadlá was built in 1925. ‘Zapadlá’ is an adjective with many potential translations, including (but not limited to) ‘fallen’, ‘remote’, ‘out-of-the-way’, ‘sunken’ and ‘deep-set’. In 1925, when this was becoming a truly residential area, it was decided that this was a good way to describe the street in relation to all the construction taking place.…
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Na Dobešce was built in 1925. It’s been said that this is named after a massive oak tree in the vicinity (an oak is a ‘dub’, and more on that in a few streets’ time). However, for the other story, we can go to the 1931 writings of Karel Čapek (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/01/30/prague-2-day-24-sady-bratri-capku/ for a post…
What's in a Prague street name 