What's in a Prague street name

Every street in Prague, one by one.

recent posts (search bar on main page for about a gazillion more)

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: Jan Žižka

  • Prague 4, day 96: Mikuláše z Husi

    Mikuláše z Husi was built in 1906. Until 1940, and again from 1945 to 1947, the street was known as Husova – as is a street in Prague 1: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/05/prague-1-day-169-husova/. Mikuláš z Pístného was born around 1375, and the earliest written reference we have to him is from 1389. In 1406, King Václav/Wenceslas IV made…

  • Prague 1, day 173: Michalská

    Originally published on X on 16 March 2024. In the latter part of the 12th century, a Romanesque church was built round these parts. In the 1360s, the church was given a Gothic makeover (which was not so much a makeover as a virtual replacement of the entire building). The church became known for being…

  • Prague 3, day 178: Čáslavská

    Originally published on Twitter on 18 October 2022. Čáslavská was built in 1910. Čáslav, population 10,000, is a town in Central Bohemia, in the Kutná Hora district. It was founded in 1264 by Přemysl Otakar II, who I am just going to start assume founded everything, including me. Initially on the side of the Catholics…

  • Prague 3, day 150: Žižkovo náměstí

    Originally published on Twitter on 20 September 2022. Žižkovo náměstí was built in 1904, and I’m now wondering how I spin this one out. Oh, OK: until 1947, it was Kollárovo náměstí, after Ján Kollár (1793-1852), Slovak poet, pastor, writer and promoter of Pan-Slavism. From 1947 to 1958, it was Chelčického náměstí, and you can…

  • Prague 3, day 137: Chvalova

    Originally published on Twitter on 7 September 2022. Chvalova was built in 1910. Known as Závišova until 1947, after Záviš of Falkenstein (1250-ish to 1290), a noble from the Vitkovci clan and foe of Otokar II. Chval z Machovic (first mentioned in 1419, last mentioned in 1433) was one of the first governors of Tábor alongside…

  • Prague 3, day 130: Přibyslavská

    Originally published on Twitter on 31 August 2022. Přibyslavská was built in 1898. Přibyslav is a town in the Havlíčkův Brod district, currrently with about 4,000 inhabitants. It was first mentioned in writing in 1257 (under the name of Priemezlaves). In the same century, the town became the second most important silver mining location in…

  • Prague 3, day 124: Táboritská

    Originally published on Twitter on 25 August 2022. Táboritská was built in 1885. The Táborites have come up *cough* more than once *cough* in these posts, so here’s a quick brief. They were radical Hussites, known as ‘Picards’ by their enemies. Aiming to develop a communal society, they founded the town of Tábor in 1420,…

  • Prague 3, day 107: Orebitská

    Originally published on Twitter on 8 August 2022. Orebitská was built in 1885. The Orebites (Orebité) were a radical branch of the Hussites, named after a procession that they took part in on Mount Oreb, which is located in Třebechovice. Oreb itself was named after Horeb, the mountain at which Moses received the Ten Commandments.…

  • Prague 3, day 106: U Památníku

    Originally published on Twitter on 7 August 2022. U Památníku was built in 1933, and translate as ‘at the memorial’. The ‘memorial’ in question is the National Monument on Vítkov Hill. It contains the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a ceremonial hall, and an exhibition on Czech/Czechoslovak statehood. However, it’s most famous for its statue…

  • Prague 3, day 105, sort of: Trocnovské náměstí

    Originally published on Twitter on 6 August 2022. Trocnovské náměstí was presumably built before 1875. We’ve covered nearby Trocnovská on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/30/prague-3-day-102-trocnovska/, but otherwise we have a reversal of Dovcovagate (Dovcova being the street that exists on Google Maps but nowhere else, as covered on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/26/prague-3-day-86-dovcova/). My atlas, Google Maps and http://mapy.cz all confidently state that…

  • Prague 3, day 102: Trocnovská

    Originally published on Twitter on 3 August 2022. Trocnovská was built in 1889. Trocnov, population 112, is a village in the České Budějovice district. Before 1949, the name ‘Trocnov’ only referred to the court there, and the village itself was called Záluží (approx. ‘Behind the Floodplain’). Jan Žižka was born less than two kilometres from…