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: Old Town
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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 27 March 2024. While ‘rybná’ is an adjective relating to ‘ryba’, i.e. fish, this area was, around 1200, a popular place for butchers, which led to the street being called ‘Za masnými krámy’ (Behind the Butcher Shops) until the 18th century. In the 18th century, the name changed to ‘Za…
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Originally published on X on 26 March 2024. Wenceslas/Václav IV became King of Bohemia in 1378, and, like his father, Charles/Karel IV, originally lived at Prague Castle. Václav’s talents included favouritism, being less popular than his father, and not getting on well with his relatives. Such a relative was Charles’s widow, Elizabeth of Pomerania, who…
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Originally published on X on 25 March 2024. From 1383 onwards, the Royal Court, which stood here, was the residence of all Czech kings. This state of affairs lasted for a century, until Vladislav II decided that Prague Castle was a nicer location (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/10/prague-1-day-181-u-prasne-brany/). The buildings were used for various purposes after that*, at…
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Originally published on X on 24 March 2024. When the Old Town was still surrounded by fortifications, there was a gate here named after St Ambrose, as was a church on nearby Hybernská (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/20/prague-1-day-134-hybernska/). The gate was then renamed Horská, because what is now Hybernská ultimately led to Kutná Hora. Once the Old Town…
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Originally published on X on 23 March 2024. A ‘calta’ is a a type of medieval Bohemian pastry. They had some sort of ‘braided’ design on them, which means I’m currently picturing a hot cross bun, but probably more intricate. Google results for this pastry reveal more hits over in Slovakia than here, where it…
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Originally published on X on 22 March 2024. ‘Ovocný trh’ translates as ‘fruit market’. You’ve already worked out where this one is going. From the early 1200s, a market selling fruit and vegetables stood here. You were still able to shop at the market in the early 20th century, as evidenced by this postcard from…
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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 20 March 2024. For the name, we can go back 48 hours and learn about St Gall and a town-within-a town: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/08/prague-1-day-175-havelska/. Until the 1700s, Havelská ulička was nameless, and was part of the surrounding market. There was also quite a gap between people using the current name and its…
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Originally published on X on 19 March 2024. In modern Czech, a ‘kotec’ is a hutch, as in a cage for keeping a rabbit or another small animal. In modern Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian, a ‘katec’ is a pigsty – literally or figuratively – and, in Albanian, ‘katec’ can mean both these things, but also a grain basket.…
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Originally posted on X on 17 March 2024. Jan Hlavsa was born at some point in the 1400s. I have no idea when, but I’m going to estimate that it wasn’t later than 1470, and not earlier than 1440, because we do know that he was a scribe of the land registers from 1497 to…
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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 15 March 2024. Jan Václav Vejvoda was born around 1677. I’m not sure about his early life, but, by 1701, he was already working in the Old Town’s municipal administration. After various roles (including a scribe, a supreme warden, a member of the city council, and, erm, ‘director of the…
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Originally published on X on 14 March 2024. ‘Jiljí’ is the Czech version of ‘Aegidius’. This is a name that’s changed more than many others when entering other languages – in English, we know it as ‘Giles’. Saint Giles, meanwhile, was born in Athens and is said to have founded the Abbey of Saint-Gilles in…
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Originally published on X on 13 March 2024. A ‘jalovec’ is a juniper. Junipers are quite popular in the Czech Republic as ornamental trees. Number 3 on the street (pictured) is called U Jalovcového stromu (The Juniper Tree). The street then got its name from that; the photo also makes it clear that Jalovcová is…
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Originally published on X on 12 March 2024. Jan Hus was born around 1370, most likely in Husinec (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/12/22/prague-3-day-115-husinecka/), and probably studied at the monastery in Prachatice until he was sixteen, when he moved to Prague. He later studied at Charles University, graduating in 1393, although he was much more interested in being a teacher…
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Originally published on X on 10 March 2024. This is one for which we don’t have a definitive explanation, which is odd when you consider that the name has only been used since the late 1700s. ‘Liliová’ is the feminine adjective derived from ‘lilie’, which is, yes, a lily. On the one hand, some sources…
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Originally published on X on 9 March 2024. Predictability alert: yesterday, we talked about gold and goldsmiths (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/03/prague-1-day-165-zlata/); today, we’re on silver and silversmiths. An alley rather than a full-on street, Stříbrná was built in order for water to be carried to St Anne’s Convent (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/03/prague-1-day-163-anenske-namesti/) in case of fire. Good luck to anybody trying…
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Originally published on X on 8 March 2024. This ‘street’ (see later on) didn’t have a name at all until 1905, when it was given the name that Náprstkova (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/01/prague-1-day-159-naprstkova/) had previously had. ‘Zlatá’ means ‘golden’, and, back in the Middle Ages, jewellers and goldsmiths lived and traded round here. (Compare to https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/05/prague-1-day-4-zlata-ulicka-u-daliborky/, which many…
What's in a Prague street name 