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: Forests

  • Prague 4, day 339: Na Borovém

    Na Borovém was built in 1930. A ‘bor’ is a pine; ‘borový’ is therefore the adjective, and a ‘borový les’ is a pine forest. There was once one round here, eventually replaced by the Krč housing estate. The forest was generally known as ‘Borový’ (no les), hence the street name. Obviously, that forest is long…

  • Prague 4, day 331: Vzdušná

    Vzdušná was built in 1941 (I think). There’s greenery around here, and there no doubt used to be a lot more of it, especially as none of these streets I’ve been covering lately seem to have sprung up earlier than Czechoslovakia did. This particular street was built on a plateau near the forest. One nice…

  • Prague 4, day 327: U lesa

    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:…

  • Prague 4, day 323: Mezilesní

    Mezilesní was built in 1931. We’re between (mezi) two forests (lesy) here. The first one is Kunratický les or Michelský les, as described on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/12/20/prague-4-day-265-zalesi/ (which is ‘behind’ the forest, whatever you want to call it). The second is the grove in the valley of Kunratický potok, which there are some nice pictures of on…

  • Prague 4, day 307: Na dubině

    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.

  • Prague 4, day 295: Nad lesem

    Nad lesem was built in 1935. While we’ve established that parts of Hodkovičky are quite barren (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/01/28/prague-4-day-293-na-lysinach/), you can go a tiny bit further to the north and find yourself just above a forest. Or, in Czech, ‘nad lesem’. The forest is on the border between Hodkovičky and Braník. I mean, this is based on…

  • Prague 4, day 270: Nad lesním divadlem 

    Nad lesním divadlem was built in 1968. Behind this street, you’ve got Velký háj (‘The big grove’), a forested area with parkland. Only a small portion is owned by the City of Prague; the rest is in the hands of various private individuals. In 1913, Jan Šimsa, a local doctor, established a ‘lesní divadlo’ – a…

  • Prague 4, day 265: Zálesí

    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…