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: Schools
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Originally published on X on 4 January 2023. Svatá Voršila is known to English-speakers as Saint Ursula; we don’t know much about her other than that, in 383 AD, she, along with a group of virgins, was beheaded by the Huns in Cologne, where the main church devoted to her is now located. We also…
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Originally published on X on 3 January 2024. When this street was built in the 14th century, it was named Pasířská, because it was inhabited by pasíři – craftsmen making belts from metal, i.e. girdlers. When they moved to another nearby street – which we’re getting to soon-ish – they were replaced by makers of…
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Originally published on X on 1 January 2024. Around 1400, one of the houses on this street was owned by a Velík Křemenec, whose name literally translates as ‘Big Quartzite’, which is incredible. We don’t know much about him other than that he was wealthy, the house he owned was named Na Křemenci, and he…
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Originally published on X on 6 November 2023. You’ll know who St Joseph was. The kid in his arms ended up being a pretty big deal too. In 1655, the Discalced Carmelites, as founded by St Theresa of Avila, were called to Prague by Ferdinand III (a quick lesson about the Carmelites is here: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/08/prague-1-day-39-karmelitska/).…
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Originally published on X on 20 September 2023. We talked about Loreto and The Loretas recently: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/07/prague-1-day-17-loretanske-namesti/. But this is Hradčany, so we can happily move on to talking about beautiful buildings instead. Number 1 is Hradčany Town Hall, built around 1600. It fulfilled this role until 1784, when the four historical districts of Prague…
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Originally published on X on 29 March 2023. Na Hrádku was built in 1890. One of the important Czech noble families of the era was known as the Páni z Valdeka, the Lords of Valdek; the first one of them to be mentioned in writing is Oldřich Zajíc, who died in 1271. As of the…
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Originally published on X on 7 March 2023. Na Děkance was built in 1884. Until 1909, this was Komenského, as in Comenius, as in https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/26/prague-3-day-82-komenskeho-namesti/. The land on this street was owned by the Vyšehrad deanery, i.e. the děkanství. In 1885, a school called Na Děkance was opened here. There had been two local schools…
What's in a Prague street name 