Old Town
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Prague 1, day 163: Anenské náměstí
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 Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 162: Na Zábradlí
Originally published on X on 5 March 2024. A ‘zábradlí’ is a banister, railing, handrail or balustrade. In the context of this street, there was once a church on the corner called Church of St. John the Baptist ‘Na zábradlí’. It was built around 1130. It was most likely part of the wall that was Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 161: Betlémská
Originally published on X on 4 March 2024. Originally, the street was called Svatého Ondřeje, after a church dedicated to St Andrew, consecrated in 1165, abolished in 1785, and destroyed in the 19th century (by which time it was used as a carpentry workshop) so the street could be extended: https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kostel_svat%C3%A9ho_Ond%C5%99eje_%28Praha%29#/media/Soubor:Kostel_sv._Ond%C5%99eje.jpg. Later on, the central Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 160: Betlémské náměstí
Originally published on X on 3 March 2024. In the Middle Ages, there was a Romanesque church here devoted to Saints Philip and James – and so the accompanying street became known as U Filipa a Jakuba. Between 1391 and 1394, a chapel – the Bethlehem Chapel / Betlémská kaple was also constructed. The intention Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 159: Náprstkova
Originally published on X on 2 March 2024. The road was originally called Zlatá (Golden), and a neighbouring street still is. You can still see evidence of the goldsmiths who lived on the street in the names of number 9 (U zlaté hrušky – The Golden Pear) and number 4 (U zlaté lodi – The Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 158: U Dobřenských
Originally published on X on 29 February 2024. Jakub Jan Václav Dobřenský was born in Prague in 1623. He studied medicine and philosophy at Charles University (and also in Italy), and began teaching at the university in 1664. In the meantime, he bought several properties in Prague and set up laboratories in them. One of Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 155: Krocínova
Originally published on X on 26 February 2024. Václav Krocín was born in 1532, and grew up in Žatec, later moving to Prague, where his mother owned various properties. After finishing his studies there in 1560, he started working for the Old Town Municipality, eventually becoming mayor in 1584. He became known as Václav Krocín Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 154: Boršov
Originally published on X on 25 February 2024. Boršov is a local manor, first mentioned in 1323. Its name derives from ‘Bořivoj’ (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2023/01/14/prague-3-day-134-borivojova/). From the mid-1700s until 1870, the street was called Poštovský plácek (‘Postal patch’ or thereabouts), after the nearby postal route (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/28/prague-1-day-153-karoliny-svetle/). It reverted to Boršov in 1870, but, around the end Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 153: Karoliny Světlé
Originally published on X on 24 February 2024. The southern part of the street was originally called Svatoštěpánská, later being known (from 1780) as Štěpánské náměstí, both after a nearby church which is no longer there. The northern part, meanwhile, was known as Za svatým křížem menším – a reference to the rotunda mentioned on: Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 152: Průchodní
Originally published on X on 23 February 2024. A ‘průchod’ is a passage(way) or alley(way), much like a ‘pasáž’ (except you wouldn’t also use ‘průchod’ to refer to a shopping arcade). It can also be used to denote the action of going through something, rather than the physical space itself. As in ‘Průchod stavbou zakázán!’, Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 151: Konviktská
Originally published on X on 22 February 2024. Originally, this street was called U sv. Kříže (St Cross), named after a rotunda which was built around 1125. Pleasingly, it’s still there and was done up in 2022. In the 1600s, the street was renamed ‘Horní Solní’ due to the presence of a nearby salt warehouse. Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 150: Bartolomějská
Originally published on X on 21 February 2024. In the 1200s, this area was a poor neighbourhood; one of its most well-known buildings was called ‘Benátky’ (Venice), and so the street’s first name was Benátská. In 1372, Jan Milíč from Kroměříž (Hussite Prague 3 flashback on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/12/26/prague-3-day-121-milicova/) founded a preacher’s school and refuge for ‘repentant Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 149: Na Perštýně
Originally published on X on 20 February 2024. Pernštejn Castle is located about 40 kilometres northwest of Brno. It was founded in the second half of the 13th century, and is what we would classify as ‘well preserved’. The name ‘Pernštejn’ is derived from the original German name for the castle, ‘Bärenstein’ (the Bear Rock). Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 148: Skořepka
Originally published on X on 19 February 2024. In the early 1500s, a hat-maker called Vít Skořepa bought number 10 and ran his business from there. It became known as Dům U Skořepů (with the alternative name of Dům U Tří zlatých lvů (the Three Golden Lions)). It’s the same house that Mozart lived in Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 147: Uhelný trh
Originally published on X on 18 February 2024. Uhlí is coal; a trh is a market. Coal made from wood is charcoal, and, in Czech, that’s dřevěné uhlí (literally ‘wooden coal’). Sales of charcoal took place until the 1800s, when hard coal became more popular. Uhelný trh became a place you’d go to to buy Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 146: Martinská
Originally published on X on 17 February 2024. Way back in the 1100s, there was a settlement here called Újezd, meaning the same as but not to be confused with https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/11/prague-1-day-81-ujezd/. Between 1178 and 1187, the Church of St Martin was built, and, after that, the name of the settlement was updated to Újezd u Svatého Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 145: Perlová
Originally published on X on 16 February 2024. In the Middle Ages, this street was known as ‘U písku’ (‘By the sand’), because the terrain nearby consisted of sandy fields. Charles IV ordered that a monastery and church be built on those fields, and you can read about the result on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/15/prague-1-day-112-jungmannovo-namesti/. There was a Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 143: Na Můstku
Originally posted on X on 14 February 2024. A most is a bridge; a můstek is still a bridge, but a smaller one. In the 13th century, there was a bridge near here, leading from the Old Town fortifications across the moat that is now https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/22/prague-1-day-137-na-prikope/. Also in the 13th century, there was a town Continue reading
What's in a Prague street name 