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: Printing

  • Prague 1, day 232: Salvátorská

    Originally published on X on 20 May 2024. In 1610, a Protestant nobleman, Jáchym Ondřej Šlik, bought a plot of land for the construction of a German Evangelical church; the foundation stone was laid a year later, and the church (Kostel svatého Salvátora / St Salvator’s Church) was consecrated in 1614. Salvátor is a Czech…

  • Prague 1, day 195: Malé náměstí

    Originally published on X on 8 April 2024. A street sign that accessorises. I approve. ‘Malé náměstí’ translates as ’Small square’ (and the map above is another excellent reminder that we might translate náměstí as ‘square’, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be shaped like one. And the name – already fairly self-explanatory – makes…

  • Prague 1, day 194: Melantrichova

    Originally published on X on 7 April 2024. Jiřík Černý was born around 1511 in Rožďalovice, near Nymburk, but there are no written mentions of him until 1534, when he gained a bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Arts at Charles University. At some point (the years after his graduation aren’t well documented either), he…

  • 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…

  • Prague 1, day 157: Novotného lávka

    Originally published on X on 28 February 2024. A text from 1396 mentions ten mills in this location; no later than 1489, they had been joined by a wooden water tower, which was used to provide water from the Vltava to the Old Town. As with nearly every wooden structure that’s come up in these…

  • Prague 1, day 140: V Cípu

    Originally published on X on 11 February 2024. A cíp is a tip or a corner. And, as this is basically an extension of Panská (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/23/prague-1-day-139-panska/) which doesn’t lead anywhere, this seems quite apt. First referred to as ‘in vico dicto Czyp’ in 1395, it was also known as Heršova for a time, as a…

  • Prague 1, day 120: Ve Smečkách

    Originally published on X on 21 January 2024. A smečka is a pack (e.g. of dogs or wolves), or a pride (of lions). It originally meant ‘loop’ or ‘dog-collar’, before being attributed to a whole group of animals rather than simply to one animal’s neck. This could be the reason for the street’s name, but…