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: Vinohrady

  • Prague 3, day 183: Perunova

    Originally published on Twitter on 23 October 2022. Perunova was built in 1889. Perun is a Slavic god and quite the multitasker, being the god of the sky, thunder, lightning, storms, rain, law, war, fertility and oak trees. He’s analogous to Thor and Mars. There are multiple potential origins for his name – for example,…

  • Prague 3, day 182: Kolínská

    Originally published on Twitter on 22 October 2022. Kolínská was built in 1911. It was founded as a royal city, probably in the mid-1200s, by Přemysl Otakar II, because what wasn’t. There’s even a fresco in the Town Hall there, showing him supervising the construction (picture taken from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kolin_town_hall_fresco_1.png). In 1421, the city was captured…

  • Prague 3, day 181: Libická

    Originally published on Twitter on 21 October 2022. Libická was built in 1911. Libice nad Cidlinou, population 1,200, is a village in Nymburk district. It was first mentioned in 981, although archeological finds indicate that the land the village lies on was already inhabited in the Bronze Age. In the 10th century, the Slavník family…

  • Prague 3, day 180: Boleslavská

    Originally published on Twitter on 20 October 2022. Boleslavská was built in 1910. Stará Boleslav came into existence in the early 10th century, when the Přemyšlids built a castle here to guard their Central Bohemian domain. A church was built too, dedicated to Arab physicians and two Christian martyrs, Saints Cosmas and Damian. This church…

  • Prague 3, day 179: Květná

    Originally published on Twitter on 19 October 2022. Květná was built in 1930. ‘Květná’ is an adjective derived from the word ‘květ’, which means flower. This is also why ‘May’ in Czech is ‘květen’. However, it’s not an adjective I’ve ever seen elsewhere – ‘floral’ would typically be ‘květinový’ or, less typically, ‘květovaný’. The street…

  • Prague 3, day 177: Chrudimská

    Originally published on Twitter on 17 October 2022. Chrudimská was built in 1908. Chrudim, population 23,000, is the second-largest city in the Pardubice region. It was first mentioned in writing in 1055, when Břetislav I died there during a military campaign. A proper city was then constructed here starting in 1263, at the initiative of…

  • Prague 3, day 176: Hradecká

    Originally published on Twitter on 16 October 2022. I’m really rubbish at transferring these to the website so far. Hradecká was built in 1908. Hradec Králové (German: Königgrätz), population 91,000, literally translates as ‘Queen’s Castle’. It’s the capital of the eponymous region (Královéhradecký kraj in Czech, so… eponymous-ish), in north-East Bohemia. Originally just called Hradec…

  • Prague 3, day 175: Písecká

    Originally published on Twitter on 15 October 2022. Písecká was built in 1910. Písek, with 30,000 inhabitants, is the third-largest city in South Bohemia. Its name means ‘sand’, deriving from the gold-bearing sand found on the banks of the Otava River. It was first mentioned in 1243, when Václav I built a castle there, although…

  • Prague 3, day 174: Slezská

    Originally published on Twitter on 14 October 2022. Slezská was built in 1889. Silesia (Slezsko in Czech, Śląsk in Polish, and Schlesien in German), is a historical region of Central Europe (translation: this might not be the briefest of threads). Czech Silesia is one of the three historical Czech lands, though it’s significantly smaller than…

  • Prague 3, day 173: Náměstí Jiřího z Lobkovic

    Originally published on Twitter on 13 October 2022. Náměstí Jiřího z Lobkovic was built in 1910. It underwent a pointless name change to Lobkovické náměstí (1940-5). It was then called Náměstí V.I. Čapajeva until 1990. Vasily Chapayev (1887-1919) was a Red Army commander. Soviet propaganda hailed him as a war hero; he also had bugger…

  • Prague 3, day 172: Horní Stromka

    Originally published on Twitter on 12 October 2022. Horní Stromka was built in 1925. There’s no street sign (more on that later). For the story of Horní Stromka, please go back 24 hours to https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2023/03/08/prague-3-day-171-v-horni-stromce/. One thing I’ve learned in the last 172 days (don’t worry, there aren’t that many to go) is that whoever…

  • Prague 3, day 171: V Horní Stromce

    Originally published on Twitter on 11 October 2022. V Horní Stromce was built in 1935. Horní Stromka (‘Upper Tree’) was an estate that appeared in this location around the 16th century. In 1723, it was purchased by a married couple called the Svobodas. In 1757, during the Seven Years’ War, the homestead was devastated during the…

  • Prague 3, day 170: Kouřimská

    Originally published on Twitter on 10 October 2022. Kouřimská was built in 1925. Kouřim is *another* small town (1,900 people) in the Kolín district. The name is one accent mark away from being ‘kouřím’ (meaning ‘I smoke’), and, according to legend, Bohemian prince Lech (died 805) lit a fire here to let his ancestor Čech…

  • Prague 3, day 168: Votická

    Originally published on Twitter on 8 October 2022. Votička was built in 1925. Votice is a town of 4,500 people in the Benešov District, about 60 km from Prague. It’s within a mountainous region known as ‘Česká Sibiř’ / ‘Czech Siberia’. It was first mentioned in writing in 1359, but had probably existed for over…

  • Prague 3, day 167: Šrobárova

    Originally posted on Twitter on 7 October 2022. There is no day 166, because day 166 on the Twitter version was a spoof post which… well, I don’t feel it particularly landed at the time, and you *really* had to be there for it to even start landing. Anyway, moving on. Šrobárova was built in…

  • Prague 3, day 165: U Vinohradské nemocnice

    Originally published on Twitter on 5 October 2022. U Vinohradské nemocnice was built in 1925 and translates as ‘By Vinohrady Hospital’. What is now known as the University Hospital of Královské Vinohrady (Fakultní nemocnice Královské Vinohrady) was opened in 1902, and, a year later, was named ‘Všeobecná veřejná nemocnice císaře a krále Františka Josefa’. Catchy.…

  • Prague 3, day 164: Soběslavská

    Originally published on Twitter on 4 October 2022. Soběslavská was built in 1925. Soběslav is a town of 6,800 inhabitants, 18 kilometres south of Tábor in South Bohemia. It was first mentioned in 1293, when its castle and surroundings belonged to the wealthy Rosenberg family. Key historical events include Václav IV (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2023/02/26/prague-3-day-153-lucemburska/) being imprisoned in…

  • Prague 3, day 163: Hollarovo náměstí

    Originally published on Twitter on 3 October 2022. Hollarovo náměstí was built around 1925, remaining nameless until 1955. Václav Hollar was born to a wealthy family in Prague in 1607. An artist from a young age, he was introduced to the practice of engraving when he was 18. In 1627, he left Bohemia and moved…

  • Prague 3, day 162: U Vinohradského hřbitova

    Originally published on Twitter on 2 October 2022. U Vinohradského hřbitova, built in 1925, translates as ’By the Vinohrady Cemetery’. Vinohrady Cemetery was built in 1885, and was mainly used for the burial of upper-class Prague citizens. It was expanded over the next forty years, and is now the second-largest cemetery in Prague in terms…

  • Prague 3, day 161: Vinohradská

    Originally published on Twitter on 1 October 2022. Vinohradská was built long enough ago for people to not know the exact year. Caution: multiple name changes coming. It was originally called Říčanská, as it led to Říčany in modern-day Prague-East (reputedly the best place to live in the country, or so says the Quality of Life…