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: Knights
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Originally published on X on 22 June 2024. In the early Middle Ages, this area was a settlement called Poříčí (which means ‘riverside’). I’ll try not to give too much commentary on that today, as I’m saving it for a future thread. It was mainly inhabited by German merchants, who, around 1150, had a church…
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Originally published on X on 13 April 2024. Originally, the street was called ‘Ostrožná’ or ‘Ostrožnická’, because an ‘ostroh’ is a spur, and spur-makers set up shop in this area. A ‘plát’, meanwhile, is, yes, a plate, as in an iron or a steel one. Therefore, a ‘platnéř’ would be a platemaker, but, rather than…
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Originally published on X on 29 March 2024. Shirley Tem…, no, wait, it’s not 1 April just yet, is it. For the briefest of lessons about the Knights Templar and their time in Prague, take a look at https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/03/prague-1-day-163-anenske-namesti/. While their main stomping ground was on Anenské náměstí, it seems that they also owned a…
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Originally published on X on 21 March 2024. The New Market / Nové tržiště was founded round here in 1232, and, for a time, all the streets covered in the last few days were named after it (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/08/prague-1-day-175-havelska/ for the start of the story). The street then underwent market-related name changes: in the early…
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Originally published on X on 6 March 2024. In this spot, there was once a rotunda devoted to St Lawrence (Vavřinec). In 1230, the Knights Templar bought the land and had the rotunda expanded into a church. Pope Clement V disbanded the Knights Templar in 1312, largely due to the machinations of Philip IV of…
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Originally published on X on 21 November 2023. For brief bits and pieces about the Knights of Malta in the Czech Lands, see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/10/prague-1-day-71-velkoprevorske-namesti/. The Knights Hospitaller arrived in Bohemia in the 12th century (when their headquarters were still in Jerusalem). The Grand Priory was created in 1626, and they moved into their palace here…
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Originally published on X on 18 November 2023. A převor is a prior – a word whose meaning differs depending on what kind of monastery they’re in. Among Dominicans, Augustinians, Brothers of Mercy and other Catholic orders, a prior is any monastic superior. Among Premonstratensians, Benedictines and Cistercians, however, a prior would be directly subordinate…
What's in a Prague street name 