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: Monasteries
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Novodvorská was created in 1935 through the merger of two streets: Hlavní (Main) and Vozová (which is related to ‘vůz’, meaning wagon). Once upon a time, there was a farmstead (in present-day Lhotka, also in Prague 4). Its name was Nový dvůr (New Court). It later became a monastery. After that, it served, at different…
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Milevská was built in 1962. Milevsko is a town of 8,000 people in South Bohemia, located 22 kilometres from both Písek (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2023/03/19/prague-3-day-175-pisecka/) and Tábor (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/02/06/prague-4-day-26-taborska/). The earliest written mention of it is from 1184, which is three years before Jiřího z Milevska, a nobleman, arranged for a monastery to be built in the vicinity. As…
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Božetěchova was built in 1892. To start this one off, we have to take a look at the Sázava Monastery, located about 30 km south of Prague (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/02/18/prague-2-day-31-sazavska/). It was founded in 1032 by Duke Břetislav I. Božetěch may have been educated there, and became its abbot – the fourth – in 1091. He was…
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Originally published on X on 26 June 2024. A ‘celnice’ is a custom house. Originally, the Old Town’s custom house was located just by Old Town Square: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/12/prague-1-day-189-tynska/. Apparently, it then moved to Haštalská (I need to verify this), but, by the early 1800s, the former Dům U Hybernů, which was no longer serving as…
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Originally published on X on 8 June 2024. In the 1100s, there was already a settlement round here, named Újezd and centered around today’s Church of St Castulus (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/11/05/prague-1-day-245-hastalske-namesti/). When the Convent of Saint Agnes was built in 1231 (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/11/05/prague-1-day-243-anezska/), the district started to grow. The order residing here was originally inspired by the Order…
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Originally published on X on 5 June 2024. Jan Řásný z Řásnova was, in the 17th century, the hetman of Strahov Monastery (which is on the other side of the river, but got covered on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/08/prague-1-day-30-strahovske-nadvori-strahov-courtyard/). I’ll admit to not being entirely sure what a ‘hetman’ is when we’re dealing with a monastery – back in the…
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Originally published on X on 2 June 2024. Originally, the street was known either as U svatého Kříže – after a now-defunct church of the Holy Cross – or as U svaté Anežky (see yesterday: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/11/05/prague-1-day-243-anezska/). Around 1350, a hospital was built here, founded by one Bohuslav z Olbramovic, and completed at the instigation of…
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Originally published on X on 14 May 2024. A relatively quick one today, as I can just point you towards https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/31/prague-1-day-227-u-svateho-ducha/ (with an update: I’ve seen a website saying the church was built between 1346 and 1348). Originally, the southern part of the street was called U sv. Ducha (like yesterday’s street), and the northern…
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Originally published on X on 13 May 2024. Duch svatý, or svatý Duch, is not an obscure saint, disappointing as that is for those of us who were hoping Duch was a Celtic missionary or something. He’s the Holy Spirit. The Church of the Holy Spirit was built at some point between 1325 and 1350;…
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Originally posted on X on 21 April 2024. And once again, I remind myself that ‘Mikuláš’ is Czech for ‘Nicholas’. Saint Nicholas (of Bari) died in 343, and was known for secret gift-giving, hence Dutch folklore coming up with Sinterklaas, who is one of the sources for Santa Claus. Saint Nicholas is also the patron…
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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 12 April 2024. For the name of the street, see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/16/prague-1-day-198-krizovnicke-namesti/. And, for evidence of the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star – including the Red Star itself – see this close-up of the monastery building. The monastery takes up a large part of one side of the…
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Originally published on X on 11 April 2024. If you’ve got a vague memory of standing somewhere and thinking it must be the most crowded place in Prague, you may have been in this spot. In 1233, the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star / Rytířský řád Křižovníků s červenou hvězdou – Bohemia’s…
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Originally published on X on 10 April 2024. So I guess anyone who felt I only mentioned the Klementinum very briefly yesterday will feel better now. The name comes from the Church of St Kliment, which the Dominicans moved into in 1227, when they also created a monastery. The monastery was severely damaged by fire…
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Originally published on X on 31 March 2024. Yesterday, I gave you the brief things that we know about Mr Štupart: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/12/prague-1-day-187-stupartska/. Today, I’m able to give you the address where he once owned a house (from 1664), but not the house itself, as that was demolished in 1911. The street was originally called Štupartská,…
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Originally published on X on 28 March 2024. Wenceslas/Václav I – the ‘One-Eyed’ – became King of Bohemia in 1230. The one eye thing was the result of a childhood hunting trip gone wrong. Which isn’t directly relevant to the story, but somebody was going to ask if I didn’t mention it. Anyway, events in…
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Originally published on X on 18 March 2024. Nothing to do with the Havel you’re probably all thinking of – Svatý Havel is St Gall. According to his biographers, Gall was born in Ireland around 550, and studied at the abbey in Bangor (County Down, Northern Ireland, not Wales), becoming a disciple of St Columban.…
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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…
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Originally published on X on 31 December 2023. In 1115, Vladislav I, Duke of Bohemia, had a monastery built in Kladruby, near Tachov (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/19/prague-3-day-17-tachovske-namesti/); he would be buried there when he died a decade later. He also decreed that a village be created here, in the monastery’s honour. The village was named Opatovice (an opat…
What's in a Prague street name 