What's in a Prague street name

Every street in Prague, one by one.

recent posts (search bar on main page for about a gazillion more)

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: Statues

  • Prague 4, day 142: Vodárenská

    Vodárenská was built in 1935. By the late 1800s, Prague was expanding, as were the towns around it, such as Podolí. Industry was becoming stronger and stronger, and needed more resources. Such as water. Therefore, in 1882, the Vinohrady Waterworks were built to supply water to the town of Královské Vinohrady. The water tower is…

  • Prague 1, day 285: Těšnovský tunel

    Originally published on 13 July 2024. And today, we come to the end of the road(s). For the story of the name Těšnov, see yesterday: TESNOV Commissioned in 1980, the 360-metre excavated road tunnel connects Nábřeží Ludvíka Svobody (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/11/10/prague-1-day-284-tesnov/) with Rohanské nábřeží (on the other side, and therefore in Prague 8). It’s near the Ministries…

  • Prague 1, day 268: V Celnici

    Originally published on X on 26 June 2024. A ‘celnice’ is a custom house. Originally, the Old Town’s custom house was located just by Old Town Square: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/12/prague-1-day-189-tynska/. Apparently, it then moved to Haštalská (I need to verify this), but, by the early 1800s, the former Dům U Hybernů, which was no longer serving as…

  • Prague 1, day 250: Na Františku

    Originally published on X on 8 June 2024. In the 1100s, there was already a settlement round here, named Újezd and centered around today’s Church of St Castulus (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/11/05/prague-1-day-245-hastalske-namesti/). When the Convent of Saint Agnes was built in 1231 (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/11/05/prague-1-day-243-anezska/), the district started to grow. The order residing here was originally inspired by the Order…

  • Prague 1, day 249: Malá Klášterní

    Originally published on X on 7 June 2024. A street with a name, but without a sign. Malá Klášterní translate as ‘Little Convent Street’, so let me take you back to here: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/11/05/prague-1-day-243-anezska/. But what the street (all 30 metres of it) lacks in street signs, it makes up for in open spaces, specifically Zahrada…

  • Prague 1, day 238: Týn

    Originally published on X on 27 May 2024. When I first drafted my post about Týn / Ungelt (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/12/prague-1-day-189-tynska/), I didn’t realise that the courtyard is also treated as its own street, and therefore has its own street sign. So it was quite nice to pop in and get some proper pictures of Týn, too.…

  • Prague 1, day 203: U Radnice

    Originally published on X on 16 April 2024. In the 14th century, this street became part of the marketplace that we now know as Old Town Square (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/12/prague-1-day-190-staromestske-namesti-old-town-square/). Sellers of bridles (Czech: uzdy) operated here, and the street became known as V uzdářích or Pod uzdáři for a couple of hundred years. Back on current-day…

  • Prague 1, day 198: Křižovnické náměstí

    Originally published on X on 11 April 2024. If you’ve got a vague memory of standing somewhere and thinking it must be the most crowded place in Prague, you may have been in this spot. In 1233, the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star / Rytířský řád Křižovníků s červenou hvězdou – Bohemia’s…

  • Prague 1, day 190: Staroměstské náměstí (Old Town Square)

    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…

  • 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 132: Senovážné náměstí

    Originally published on X on 3 February 2024. Your regular reminder that a ‘náměstí’ is a square, but doesn’t necessarily have to be square in shape. Let’s start with a language lesson: seno is ‘hay’, while váha means both ‘weight’ and ‘weighing machine’. So, a senováha is a hay scale, and this is Hay Scale…

  • Prague 1, day 123: Václavské náměstí

    Originally published on X on 24 and 25 January 2024 (it’s a two-partner). Václav (Wenceslas, as in ‘Good King’) was born around 907, the son of Vratislav (Wrocław-founding) and Drahomíra (pagan; murderous), and the granddaughter of Ludmila (Christian; victim of said murderousness; later saintly) and Bořivoj (the first verifiable Czech leader). He became Prince of…

  • Prague 1, day 112: Jungmannovo náměstí

    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,…

  • Prague 1, day 68: Karlův most (Charles Bridge)

    Originally published on X on 13 and 14 November 2023 (there was quite a lot to get through, as you’ll see). No street sign, but I could hardly get away with not writing a post about this one. In 1172, Prague got its first stone bridge, built by King Vladislav II and named Juditin Most…

  • Prague 1, day 51: Klárov

    Originally published on X on 27 October 2023. Alois Klar (no á) was born in Úštěk in 1763.  He went to school in Litoměřice, and then went to Prague to study languages, graduating in 1782. Four years after that, he became a professor back in Litoměřice, before returning to Prague University after being appointed professor…

  • Prague 1, day 26: Pohořelec

    Originally published on X on 24 September 2023. In 1091, Kosmas’s Chronicle referred to a market settlement here. However, it was destroyed in a fire a few years later, and, when the market was rebuilt, it was placed on the other side of the Vltava. Pohořelec – a name used for the area since the…

  • Prague 1, day 23: Radnické schody

    Originally published on X on 21 September 2023. You may remember me mentioning the former town hall in Loretánská yesterday, largely because it’s awesome: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/08/prague-1-day-22-loretanska/ In Czech, a town hall is called a radnice, because a council (rada) would meet there (see also: the German Rathaus). The adjective from radnice is radnický, and schody are…

  • 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…

  • Prague 3, day 106: U Památníku

    Originally published on Twitter on 7 August 2022. U Památníku was built in 1933, and translate as ‘at the memorial’. The ‘memorial’ in question is the National Monument on Vítkov Hill. It contains the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a ceremonial hall, and an exhibition on Czech/Czechoslovak statehood. However, it’s most famous for its statue…