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: Homesteads
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Na usedlosti was built in 1935. An ‘usedlost’ is a homestead, a farmstead or an estate. In English, the difference between a homestead and a farmstead is that the former intends to feed its own inhabitants, whereas the latter’s role is agricultural production. Czech makes no distinction between the two, which is why I’ve been…
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Zemanka was built in 1968. I’ve got an early start tomorrow, so it’s quite nice to be able to just put you in the direction of https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/10/23/prague-4-day-207-na-zemance/ and head to bed.
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Na Zemance was built in 1935. A vineyard was probably in place here as far back as the Middle Ages. It survived several centuries, but took a bit of a beating in the War of the Austrian Succession (1740 to 1748). Reduced from being a vineyard to just being a field, it was purchased by…
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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…
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Na Klikovce was built in 1937. Klikovka was a homestead that existed round here, near St Pancras’ Church (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/04/25/prague-4-day-84-na-pankraci/ for a bit more on that). A map of Nusle from 1914 indicates that, by that time, it was gone. I got excited a minute ago, because I thought I’d found a lot more information…
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Na Jezerce was built in 1925. A spring called Jezerka is mentioned way back in Cosmas’ Chronica Boemorum (written from 1119 to 1125). Apparently, Libuše – she who predicted the founding of the city of Prague (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/23/prague-2-day-93-libusina/) – used to go here to get water to bathe in. In the Middle Ages, there was a…
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Pod Terebkou (‘Under Terebka’) was built in 1935. Once upon a time, this area was either a vineyard or just a regular field, but, in 1841, a homestead was built here. Later in the century, it was purchased by Rudolf Tereba (1851-1904), an architect who had travelled around Italy, later settling in Prague and building…
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Originally published on Twitter on 5 January 2023. U Zvonařky was built in 1889. Zvonařka (English: bellfoundery? Or something that’s actually a word) is a homestead that was one located here. There were probably vineyards in this spot as early as the 12th century. It’s documented that the vineyard, in the mid-16th century, was owned…
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Originally published on Twitter on 13 November 2022. Na Smetance was built in 1889. Smetanka (translation: ‘Dandelion’) is a homestead and vineyard that used to lie in this spot. It’s old enough for it to be unclear when it was built. What we do know is that it housed a pub, and, from 1859, was…
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Originally published on Twitter on 11 October 2022. V Horní Stromce was built in 1935. Horní Stromka (‘Upper Tree’) was an estate that appeared in this location around the 16th century. In 1723, it was purchased by a married couple called the Svobodas. In 1757, during the Seven Years’ War, the homestead was devastated during the…
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Originally published on Twitter on 23 July 2022. Pod Parukářkou was built in 1997. Parukářka is the name of a former vineyard and farm, founded in the 15th century and located on the eastern part of Vrch svatého Kříže / Hill of the Holy Cross, though it was initially called Hejtmánka. From 1804, the homestead…
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Originally published on Twitter on 3 July 2022. K Červenému dvoru was built in 1925. Červený dvůr (Red Court) is another local settlement that no longer exists. It’s recorded that there were vineyards here as early as the mid-15th century. By the mid-18th century, there was a farming estate called Direktorka. Direktorka was renamed Červený…
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Originally published on Twitter on 2 July 2022. Na Viktorce was built in 1925. A farming settlement was founded here in 1873. From the end of the nineteenth century onwards, it was owned by one Viktor Kos (1858-1911), hence the name. Kos set up a brickyard here… which now has me playing a game of…
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Originally published on Twitter on 8 June 2022. Nad Ohradou was built in 1975. You can find out about Ohrada, a vineyard that was first mentioned in 1455, and which this street is ‘above’, here: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/19/prague-3-day-11-na-ohrade/. Except that there’s actually new stuff to say about Ohrada in the month since I originally tweeted about it.…
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Originally posted on Twitter on 6 May 2022. Pražačka was built in 1947. It’s named after *another* farmstead (and vineyard) that no longer exists. The origin of the name ‘Pražačka’ isn’t clear, but original maps list the name as ‘Brasatscha’ – so, surprisingly, the name probably doesn’t have anything to do with ‘Praha’. The vineyard…
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Originally published on Twitter on 4 May 2022. Built in 1975, Na Ohradě the newest street that I’ve written about to date. Like yesterday’s Vápenka, Ohrada is a former homestead, founded somewhere around the year 1400, and containing a large vineyard. An ohrada is a fence, a barrier or an enclosure. Presumably there was one…
What's in a Prague street name 