Hradčany
-
Prague 1, day 11: Jelení
Originally published on X on 2 September 2023. Jelení was named in 1870. A jelen is a stag. The street is named after Jelení příkop – the Deer Moat – a moat which separates the promontory of Prague Castle and the castle’s northern forecourt. In 1534, Ferdinand I had had the Královská zahrada / Royal Continue reading
-
Prague 1, day 10: Chotkova
Originally published on X on 1 September 2023. Carl Bernhard Graf Chotek von Chotkowa und Wognin was born in Vienna in 1783. His father, Johann Nepomuk Rudolph Graf Chotek von Chotkow und Wognin, after serving as finance minister in Vienna, became Supreme Burgave of Bohemia from 1802 to 1805; in this role, he was responsible Continue reading
-
Prague 1, day 9: Badeniho
Originally published on X on 9 August 2023. Badeniho was built in 1905 and shared with Prague 6 and Prague 7 (yes, I know that’s a 6 on the sign). Kazimierz Feliks Badeni was born into a noble family in the village of Surochów (then Galicia, now south-east Poland) in 1846. Graduating from his law Continue reading
-
Prague 1, day 8: Na baště sv. Tomáše
Originally published on X on 8 August 2023. Thomas was one of Jesus’s Twelve Apostles, specifically the one who had a particular talent for doubting. A ‘doubting Thomas’ in Czech is a nevěřící Tomáš. (Side note: in Polish, it’s a niewierny Tomasz, which would make most Czechs assume that Tom is cheating on you) To Continue reading
-
Prague 1, day 7: Gogolova
Originally published on X on 7 August 2023. Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was born in Velyki Sorochyntsi, now in Poltava Oblast, in 1809, supposedly descended from an ancient Ukrainian Cossack family. His father wrote poetry and plays in both Ukrainian and Russian. In 1820, he joined a school in Nizhyn (now in Chernihiv Oblast) and started Continue reading
-
Prague 1, day 6: Mariánské hradby (the Marian Walls)
Originally published on X on 6 August 2023. At the end of the Thirty Years’ War, if you’d asked a Swede what he thought about Prague, he might well have said ‘Det är verkligen lätt att komma in i staden och belägra den. Inga problem med det alls. Lokalbefolkningen verkade dock inte gilla oss’. In Continue reading
-
Prague 1, day 5: U Prašného mostu
Originally published on X on 5 August 2023. You may have heard of Jelení příkop (and if you haven’t, just wait a week). You may also think that a moat is something that could do with a bridge above it. Luckily, in 1535, Ferdinand I agreed with you. Originally known as the Dlouhý most (Long Continue reading
-
Prague 1, day 3: Vikářská
Originally published on X on 3 August 2023. You don’t get a normal street sign today, but you do get this. If you’ve ever been on this street, it’s probably because you were queuing there for ages and ages, waiting to get into St Vitus Cathedral (see example of The Long Wait below). In Latin, Continue reading
-
Prague 1, day 2: Jiřská
Originally published on X on 2 August 2023. And, like yesterday’s (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/02/prague-1-day-1-u-svateho-jiri-st-georges-square/), the street also had similar but not identical names before 1870: U sv. Jiří (as the square is called now), Proti klášteru sv. Jiří (Against St George’s Convent, which sounds a bit like a protest) and Svatojiřská. It was also once known as Continue reading
-
Prague 1, day 1: U svátého Jiří (St George’s Square)
Originally published on X on 1 August 2023. Before 1870, other variants of this name (Jiřské náměstí or Svatojiřské náměstí) were also in use. The story goes that George was born into a Greek Christian family in Cappadocia (in what is now Central Anatolia, i.e. Central Turkey) around 270. His father was an officer in Continue reading
What's in a Prague street name 