Mountains
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Prague 4, day 42: V Horkách
V Horkách was built in 1906. A ‘hora’ is a mountain; a ‘horka’ is the diminutive form thereof. And the surrounding area was known as ‘Horky’ – the small mountains – at least as far back as 1841. I’m not finding it massively ‘mountainous’ here, but I guess everything’s relative. It’s also the name of Continue reading
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Prague 2, day 26: Šumavská
First published on Twitter on 2 December 2022. Šumavská was built in 1889. Šumava is a mountain range covering the borderlands of the Czech Republic, Germany (Bavaria) and Austria. Many German speakers refer to it as the Böhmerwald – (the Bohemian Forest), although Bavarians, clearly wanting to take full credit, like to call it the Continue reading
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Prague 2, day 21: Čerchovská
Originally published on Twitter on 27 November 2022. Čerchovská was built in 1896. Čerchov, 1,042 metres high, is the highest mountain in Český les (somewhat different English name: Upper Palatine Forest), as well as the 10th-highest in the country. It’s only two kilometres from the German border. In German, it’s called Schwarzkopf, and yes, I Continue reading
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Prague 2, day 20: Krkonošská
Originally published on Twitter on 26 November 2022. Krkonošská was built in 1908. The Krkonoše – Riesengebirge in German, and Giant Mountains in English – are located in north-eastern Bohemia and in Polish Silesia. They’re the tallest mountain range in the Czech Republic. They also form part of the Sudetes, a ‘geomorphological subprovince’ shared by Continue reading
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Prague 2, day 15: Blanická
Originally published on Twitter on 21 November 2022. Horní (Upper) Blanická was built in 1889; Dolní (Lower) Blanická was built in 1896. They became one street in 1948. From 1940 to 1945, this was Schlözerova, after the aristocratic von Schlözer family, which included August Ludwig (1735-1809, a historian) and Dorothea (1770-1825, the first woman in Continue reading
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Prague 3, day 192: Orlická
Originally published on Twitter on 1 November 2022. Orlická was built in 1911. The Orlické (‘Eagle’) Mountains are in north-east Bohemia; they’re named after the river Orlice, a tributary of the Elbe. Part of one of the Orlice’s own tributaries, Divoká Orlice (Wild Eagle), forms the Czech-Polish border. The three highest peaks in the range Continue reading
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Prague 3, day 190: Milešovská
Originally published on Twitter on 30 October 2022. Milešovská was built in 1896. Milešovka, 837 metres high, is the highest peak in the České Středohoří, the Central Bohemian Uplands, in northern Bohemia. Bronze objects and ceramics from the Bronze Age have been found near the mountain; they suggest there was a mountain cult of sorts. Continue reading
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Prague 3, day 149: Radhošťská
Originally published on Twitter on 19 September 2022. Radhošťská was built in 1904. Part of Radhošťská used to be a separate street, called Rostislavova from 1920 to 1947, after Rostislav, the second known ruler of Moravia from 846 to 870. Before becoming a victim of cancel culture, 1952-street-planning-style, Rostislavova was renamed Tayerlova, after Rudolf Tayerle Continue reading
What's in a Prague street name 