1925
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Prague 4, day 149: Na Podkovce
Na Podkovce was built in 1925. ‘Podkovka’ translates as ‘Hippocrepis’, which itself translates as ‘horseshoe’; it’s a genus of flowering plants, of which there are accepted to be 34 different species. And, because round here is round here, it was, once upon a time, the name of a local vineyard. Continue reading
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Prague 4, day 144: Na Zlatnici
Na Zlatnici was built in 1925. You may remember that Podolí was built in an area of vineyards – they’re mentioned on quite a large proportion of recent posts, such as https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/06/11/prague-4-day-114-na-topolce/, which is named after a vineyard called Topolka. There was another vineyard round here called Zlatnice. When used to describe a person, a Continue reading
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Prague 4, day 135: Podolské schody
Podolské schody were built in 1925. There may be a proper street sign up at the top. These are the ‘Podolí Steps’, built around the same time as much everything else round here, when Podolí was newly part of Prague and expanding. The steps got a bit of attention in late 2023, when railings were Continue reading
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Prague 4, day 133: Ve svahu
Ve svahu was built in 1925. A ‘svah’ is a slope or a hillside, and this street is, as you’ve already guessed, located on one. For vocabulary fans, a ‘lyžařský svah’ is a ski slope, whereas a steep slope would be a ‘příkrý svah’. Continue reading
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Prague 4, day 131: Hoffmannova
Hoffmannova was built in 1925, but remained nameless until 1955. The whole namelessness thing starts to make sense when you see that it feels more like a ye olde village road than anything else. Karel Hoffmann was born to a poor family in Smíchov in 1872, initially living near Anděl, then at Bertramka. As a Continue reading
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Prague 4, day 130: Nad spádem
Nad spádem was built in 1925. ‘Spád’ can be translated as ‘momentum, ‘speed’, ‘cadence’, ‘flow’ and much else besides. In the context of this street, it would be a ‘gradient’, ‘slope’, etc., and ‘Nad spádem’ denotes that the street is above one. Continuing the theme of publishing companies quite liking setting up their headquarters in Continue reading
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Prague 4, day 128: Voráčovská
Voráčovská was built in 1925. Apparently a previous name for the immediately surrounding area – presumably because of someone whose surname was Voráček, but all the ones listed on Czech Wikipedia were born too late for it to be them. I’m going to assume there was a villa, a farm or a vineyard involved. Based Continue reading
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Prague 4, day 125: Doudova
Doudova was built in 1925. Václav Douda was born in Podolí in 1886. He qualified as a teacher, while also training, and acting in a management capacity, at the Podolí Sokol (guide to the Sokols on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/26/prague-2-day-114-sokolska/). In 1913, he was part of the Czech team at the 6th World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, which took Continue reading
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Prague 4, day 124: Pod Klaudiánkou
Pod Klaudiánkou was built in 1925. A pleasingly short one today, as I can just point you in the direction of https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/06/14/prague-4-day-117-na-klaudiance/. So, let’s take advantage of that and tell another story, that of the ‘číslo popisné’, literally ‘descriptive number’, AKA the unique number assigned to each building in Prague in addition to its street-specific Continue reading
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Prague 4, day 114: Na Topolce
Na Topolce was built in 1925. Once upon a time, there was a vineyard around here. It was called Topolka. According to legend, water from the spring here was used to serve Vyšehrad (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/26/prague-2-day-118-vysehradska/). At some point, the local well also became known as Topolka; there are rumours that Libuše used drink from it (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/23/prague-2-day-93-libusina/), Continue reading
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Prague 4, day 53: Svážná
Svážná was built in 1925. ‘Svažovat se’ is a verb translating as ‘slope (down)’, ‘descend’ or ‘dip’. And that’s exactly what this street does, towards central Nusle. The associated noun – ‘svah’ – translates as ‘slope’, as in ‘lyžařský svah’, which is a ski slope or a ski run. It can also be translated as ‘hillside’. Continue reading
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Prague 4, day 52: Nad Nuslemi
Nad Nuslemi was built in 1925. It is, quite literally, ‘above Nusle’, and also serves as a reminder that, in Czech, Nusle is plural. I thought this might be because it was formed by the combination of Upper (Horní) and Lower (Dolní) Nusle… but it seems those were already plural too. One famous resident of Continue reading
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Prague 4, day 50: Vyšší
Vyšší was built in 1925. If you’re walking up a hill, you might start in the lower parts (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/03/16/prague-4-day-48-dolni/). And then end up in the upper parts (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/03/17/prague-4-day-49-horni/). But sometimes, that’s not the peak, and you may end up even higher – which is exactly what Vyšší means. For some vocabulary – thankfully less filled Continue reading
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Prague 4, day 49: Horní
Horní was built in 1925. The street sign pic is temporarily stolen from Prague 4’s website, because I can’t find the one I took. Readers of yesterday’s post (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/03/16/prague-4-day-48-dolni/) may not be too surprised to know that ‘lower’ is followed by ‘upper’ when it isn’t followed by ‘lowest’. Or, therefore, that the ‘horní komora’ or ‘horní Continue reading
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Prague 4, day 48: Dolní
Dolní was built in 1925. Two streets ago, we talked about Jaurisova (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/02/26/prague-4-day-46-jaurisova/). Jaurisova goes up a hill from east to west. The first street leading off Jaurisova, when heading upwards, is this one. And ‘dolní’ is Czech for ‘lower’. I should warn you that this is part of a trilogy, so don’t go expecting Continue reading
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Prague 4, day 34: V podluží
V podluží was built in 1925. Yesterday, we discussed how a ‘luh’ is a meadow, and that the area around here once had that name too (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/02/13/prague-4-day-33-v-luhu/). We’re not straying at all far from that story today, because ‘podluží’ would translate as ‘the area under the meadow’. Shove ‘Podluží’ into Wikipedia, and you’ll find out Continue reading
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Prague 4, day 33: V luhu
V luhu was built in 1925. A ‘luh’ is a riparian forest, i.e. a forest that’s next to a body of water. It can also be translated as ‘meadow’, and it seems that that’s what the area round here was once known as. I would apologise for the days on which these posts are short, Continue reading
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Prague 4, day 32: Pod vilami
Pod vilami was built in 1925. The street name translates as ‘below the villas’, and, well, that’s pretty self-explanatory. The corner of Pod vilami and Vladimírova features St Wenceslas Church (Kostel svatého Václava), built in 1898, the year in which Nusle, not yet part of Prague, was elevated to the status of royal town. Continue reading
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Prague 2, day 143: Náměstí Pod Emauzy
Originally published on X on 2 April 2023. Náměstí Pod Emauzy was built in 1925. In 1347, a year after the founding of Prague’s Old Town, Karel IV received permission from the Pope to found a Benedictine monastery in Podskalí. In the 1370s, the monastery was supplemented by a church: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/31/prague-2-day-140-pod-slovany/ Karel wanted the monastery Continue reading
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Prague 2, day 141: Na Poříčním právu
Originally published on X on 31 March 2023. Na Poříčním právu was built in 1925. A řeka is a river. This leads to the adjective říční, as in říční koryto (riverbed), říční síť (river system) and říční přístav (river port). Put a prefix onto říční, and you get poříční, another adjective which also means ‘river’ Continue reading
What's in a Prague street name 