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: Restaurants
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K Zátiší was built in 1983. Around the mid-1870s, the settlement around here was called Klánov, on which see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2026/01/19/prague-4-day-284-klanova/. Klán was not alone – this had become a popular area for Prague people to go on trips, or stay a bit longer, and many a villa was built as a result. Klán himself started to…
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Nad Křížkem was built in 1938. In the late 1800s, a Neo-Renaissance chateau, with quite an irregular form, was built round here on the site of an earlier building; it was named Na Křížku (‘At the small cross’). It originally served as a farmstead. However, in the early 20th century, it was turned into a…
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Na Mlejnku was named in 1938. In 1625, the Dominican Order of St Giles (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/06/prague-1-day-171-jilska/ for a bit more about him and them) came to Braník and acquired the local fortified manor. At some point, they had a water mill – a vodni mlýn – built. It lasted a good while, being purchased by…
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Na Klaudiánce was built in 1906. The street sign is missing the accent mark, but everything else I can find suggests it should be there. Originally, there were vineyards around here, owned by the Vyšehrad Chapter (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/24/prague-2-day-94-k-rotunde/). Eventually – no later than 1843 – a farmstead appeared in the area. Its name was Klaudiánka. Later,…
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Na Jezerce was built in 1925. A spring called Jezerka is mentioned way back in Cosmas’ Chronica Boemorum (written from 1119 to 1125). Apparently, Libuše – she who predicted the founding of the city of Prague (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/23/prague-2-day-93-libusina/) – used to go here to get water to bathe in. In the Middle Ages, there was a…
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Jaurisova was built in 1920. Pankrác Jauris was born in 1847, and was a mayor of Michle. There’ll be plenty of Michle coming up in future posts – indeed, this street is partially there, partially in Nusle. So, for now, I’ll keep it brief and say that the earliest written mention we have of Michle…
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Originally published on X on 2 July 2024. The original church – a Romanesque basilica – appeared around 1150, and served as the parish church for the village of Poříčí (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/11/10/prague-1-day-272-na-porici/). Around 1200, Vladislav Jindřich, Margrave of Moravia, allowed the Order of Teutonic Knights to move into the church, where they established a hospital. However,…
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Originally published on X on 30 June 2024. Poříčí – meaning ‘Riverside’ – existed as a settlement by the year 1000 (its local church was mentioned in writing in 993: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/11/10/prague-1-day-261-klimentska/). It was mainly settled by German merchants, as demonstrated by the name of the trade route leading through it – Vicus Teutonicum. A second…
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Originally posted on X on 4 June 2024. Same story as yesterday: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/11/05/prague-1-day-245-hastalske-namesti/; this is what the church looks like from here. The square was actually part of this street until 1928. It was at number 26 that Max Brod, Kafka’s closest friend, was born (i.e. I missed a trick by not posting this one…
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Originally published on X on 22 May 2024. ‘Kolkovné’ is stamp tax or stamp duty; I would explain in detail what that is, but it’s been fifteen years since my tax exams, and stamp duty was one of the chapters that I don’t think I fully understood at the time. We believe stamp duty originated…
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Published on X on 2 and 3 April 2024 (there was a fair amount to say). Part 1: the history In 1338, John of Luxembourg (King of Bohemia from 1310 to 1346) gave the Old Town permission to build itself a town hall. This seemed like the perfect location, as a major market had existed…
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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 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 29 January 2024. When the New Town was founded, this street was named Angelova, after Angelo of Florence (died 1408), court apothecary under Charles IV and his son, Wenceslas IV. In 1757, it was renamed Bredovská after the noble Bredow family (Josef Breda was the governor of Prague’s Old Town,…
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Originally published on X on 13 January 2024. I promise this is a square, and not a pair of glasses or a bikini top. On the one hand, I can cheat a bit on this one and send you back 24 hours: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/15/prague-1-day-111-jungmannova/. On the other hand, the square itself deserves some attention. In 1347,…
What's in a Prague street name 