Praha 1
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Prague 1, day 20: Nový Svět (New World)
Originally published on X on 18 September 2023. Nový Svět was originally a village, developing outside Hradčany in the early 1300s, and, in 1360, being attached to it as ordered by Charles IV. Not surprisingly, many of its residents worked at the Castle. And its attachment to Hradčany is why it became known as a Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 19: Keplerova
Originally published on X on 13 September 2023. Johannes Kepler was born Weil der Stadt, the “Gateway to the Black Forest”, in 1571, and was the son of a mercenary and a herbalist. Observing the Great Comet of 1577, and a lunar eclipse in 1580, he soon became fascinated by astronomy. The picture below is Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 18: Černínská
Originally published on X on 12 September 2023. Černínská was built around or before 1700. From the 1700s, this was known as Nový Svět (New World), as were current-day Nový Svět and Kapucínská (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/07/prague-1-day-16-kapucinska/). It then became Zadní (Lower) Nový Svět in the early 1800s, later being treated as part of Kapucínská before gaining its Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 17: Loretánské náměstí
Originally published on X on 11 September 2023. Let’s start this one in Italy, where Loreto, on the Adriatic coast, and with a population of about 12,000, houses the Basilica della Santa Casa, which some Catholics believe was inhabited by the Virgin Mary. Rather than being a nice Italian holiday home for the… Mary and Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 16: Kapucínská
Originally published on X on 10 September 2023. The Ordo Fratrum Minorum Capuccinorum / Order of Friars Minor Capuchin was founded in 1525, when a friar called Matteo Serafini decided that friars should go back to behaving in a way which their founder, St Francis of Assisi, would’ve approved of. Persecuted for this, they were Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 15: Kanovnická
Originally published on X on 9 September 2023. A kanovník – or, alternatively, a kapitulár – is a canon, i.e. a clergyman who belongs to a specific chapter, or who performs liturgical functions in a certain church. The ‘certain church’ in this case is quite an important one – St. Vitus Cathedral (as it was Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 14: Ke Hradu
Originally published on X on 8 September 2023. So this should be a brief one: ‘Ke Hradu’ means ‘Towards the Castle’, which is exactly where this street leads (depending which direction you’re going in, obvs). One achievement of the street was to make the Royal Route, i.e. the journey that kings had to travel on Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 13: Hradčanské náměstí
Originally published on X on 7 September 2023. In the 1230s, Prague’s Old Town became a municipality. In the 1250s, the Lesser Town, better known as Malá Strana, would follow. Meanwhile, the area to the west of Prague Castle remained forested, with a road leading to Strahov, and then to Břevnov. This would change in Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 12: U Brusnice
Originally published on X on 3 September 2023. U Brusnice was built in 1910. Brusnice is a stream which has three sources, all in the vicinity of Břevnov Monastery. The most important one, Vojtěška, is named after St Vojtěch (or Adalbert of Prague), the country’s patron saint. Legend has it that this was the spot Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 11: Jelení
Originally published on X on 2 September 2023. Jelení was named in 1870. A jelen is a stag. The street is named after Jelení příkop – the Deer Moat – a moat which separates the promontory of Prague Castle and the castle’s northern forecourt. In 1534, Ferdinand I had had the Královská zahrada / Royal Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 10: Chotkova
Originally published on X on 1 September 2023. Carl Bernhard Graf Chotek von Chotkowa und Wognin was born in Vienna in 1783. His father, Johann Nepomuk Rudolph Graf Chotek von Chotkow und Wognin, after serving as finance minister in Vienna, became Supreme Burgave of Bohemia from 1802 to 1805; in this role, he was responsible Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 9: Badeniho
Originally published on X on 9 August 2023. Badeniho was built in 1905 and shared with Prague 6 and Prague 7 (yes, I know that’s a 6 on the sign). Kazimierz Feliks Badeni was born into a noble family in the village of Surochów (then Galicia, now south-east Poland) in 1846. Graduating from his law Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 8: Na baště sv. Tomáše
Originally published on X on 8 August 2023. Thomas was one of Jesus’s Twelve Apostles, specifically the one who had a particular talent for doubting. A ‘doubting Thomas’ in Czech is a nevěřící Tomáš. (Side note: in Polish, it’s a niewierny Tomasz, which would make most Czechs assume that Tom is cheating on you) To Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 7: Gogolova
Originally published on X on 7 August 2023. Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol was born in Velyki Sorochyntsi, now in Poltava Oblast, in 1809, supposedly descended from an ancient Ukrainian Cossack family. His father wrote poetry and plays in both Ukrainian and Russian. In 1820, he joined a school in Nizhyn (now in Chernihiv Oblast) and started Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 6: Mariánské hradby (the Marian Walls)
Originally published on X on 6 August 2023. At the end of the Thirty Years’ War, if you’d asked a Swede what he thought about Prague, he might well have said ‘Det är verkligen lätt att komma in i staden och belägra den. Inga problem med det alls. Lokalbefolkningen verkade dock inte gilla oss’. In Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 5: U Prašného mostu
Originally published on X on 5 August 2023. You may have heard of Jelení příkop (and if you haven’t, just wait a week). You may also think that a moat is something that could do with a bridge above it. Luckily, in 1535, Ferdinand I agreed with you. Originally known as the Dlouhý most (Long Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 3: Vikářská
Originally published on X on 3 August 2023. You don’t get a normal street sign today, but you do get this. If you’ve ever been on this street, it’s probably because you were queuing there for ages and ages, waiting to get into St Vitus Cathedral (see example of The Long Wait below). In Latin, Continue reading
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Prague 1, day 2: Jiřská
Originally published on X on 2 August 2023. And, like yesterday’s (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/02/prague-1-day-1-u-svateho-jiri-st-georges-square/), the street also had similar but not identical names before 1870: U sv. Jiří (as the square is called now), Proti klášteru sv. Jiří (Against St George’s Convent, which sounds a bit like a protest) and Svatojiřská. It was also once known as Continue reading
What's in a Prague street name 