Every street in Prague, one by one.
Břidličná was built in 1931.
‘Břidlice’ means ‘slate’ – fine-grained sedimentary rocks made from claystones and siltstones.
Slate is usually black or grey, and has excellent insulating properties. It also contains methane, which can be mined as shale gas.
In Czechia, slate is most abundant in Nízký Jeseník – the country’s largest geomorphological region – and in Barrandien, a geological region between Prague and Plzeň.
It’s also quite common here, hence the street name.
Nad sokolovnou was named in 1906.
However, the first name – in place until 1947, except during the Nazi occupation – was Strossmayerova, after Josip Juraj Strossmayer (1815-1905), Croatian prelate, politician and benefactor. More on him when we get on to Prague 7.
For the current name, you may want to start with the story of the Sokols: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/26/prague-2-day-114-sokolska/.
An individual branch of the Sokols will be housed in what is called a sokolovna – such as the opened here in 1933, a mere 22 years after the land was purchased for construction.
Symbolically, the foundation stone was laid on 28 October 1932, and the opening ceremony took place on 28 October 1933 (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/25/prague-1-day-144-28-rijna/ for the importance of that date).
The sokolovna wasn’t due to operate for long – it was occupied by German soldiers during WW2, and all the Sokols were closed down entirely in 1948. This one wouldn’t be properly restored until 1997.
With this thread – the 800th, by the way – we confirm that Prague 4 manages to have streets which are both above a sokolovna and below one (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/02/08/prague-4-day-28-pod-sokolovnou/).
Nad ostrovem was built in 1938.
Nad ostrovem translates as ‘above the island’.
The island in question – as you might be able to guess from the map – is Veslařský ostrov. As that has its own street sign, I guess that should be your lot for now.
Na Podkovce was built in 1925.
‘Podkovka’ translates as ‘Hippocrepis’, which itself translates as ‘horseshoe’; it’s a genus of flowering plants, of which there are accepted to be 34 different species.
And, because round here is round here, it was, once upon a time, the name of a local vineyard.
Park Antonína Engela was named in December 2023.
Antonín Engel was born in Poděbrady in 1879; his family moved to Prague shortly after, and he went to school on Malá Strana, graduating in 1897.
After that, he studied architecture and engineering at both ČVUT and its German-speaking counterpart, as well as at the Vienna Academy, where he was awarded a scholarship to Italy.
In 1909, Engel opened his own studio in the Clam-Gallas Palace (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/05/prague-1-day-169-husova/); three years later, he started working as a professor at the Prague Industrial School of Civil Engineering.
As he wasn’t able to fight in World War One for health reasons, he continued in this role throughout the period to 1922, when he became a professor at ČVUT (he would ultimately be its rector from 1939 to 1940).
During this time, Engel also joined the state regulatory commission for Greater Prague (founded in 1922, when many districts which we would now think of as being very central finally became part of the city).
Several buildings in Prague were designed by him – the park is located here because it’s next to the Podolí Waterworks, built from 1925 to 1929 and discussed on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/07/12/prague-4-day-142-vodarenska/.
He was also responsible for the design of what is now the Ministry of Transport, as discussed on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/11/10/prague-1-day-257-nabrezi-ludvika-svobody/.
From 1942 to 1944, he was also jointly responsible for turning the Rudolfinum, which had been the Czechoslovak Parliament until 1939, back into a concert hall (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/22/prague-1-day-211-namesti-jana-palacha/).
Engel was stripped of his professorship in 1948, and had to sell his paintings and valuables to support himself and his family.
In 1956, Engel was contracted to carry out an extension of the waterworks; this sounds like good news, financially speaking, but Engel was royally screwed over by a currency reform which happened a week after he was paid, and reduced the value of said payment by 98%.
Engel was the subject of an exhibition at the Municipal House (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/10/prague-1-day-182-u-obecniho-domu/) in 1956, but died two years later.
The unveiling of the park’s name took place in snowy conditions in December 2023 (https://archiv.prahatv.eu/zpravy/praha/praha-4/19292/park-u-podolske-vodarny-nese-jmeno-antonina-engela); further development of the park is planned.
Pravá was built in 1931.
Go to https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/07/15/prague-4-day-145-leva/. Follow the instructions up until ‘pretty as they are’.
Pravá is located, quite literally, to the right of Podolská (if you’re facing the correct way).
OK, vocab time, based on the reminder that, sigh, so many people believe that the right is right:
The ‘pravý opak’ would be the exact opposite or an antithesis, a ‘pravý úhel’ is a right angle, and ‘nazývat věci pravými jmény’ is to call a spade a spade.
You can also use ‘pravá’ to refer to your right foot, and the foot would be implicit.
Výchozí was built in 1906.
Until 1947, it was called Karlova, after Charles IV, arguably the most impactful Czech of all time. You can read about him on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/15/prague-1-day-196-karlova/.
One of the words you’ll see a lot across the country is ‘východ’, which translates as ‘exit’. And this street acts as something of an exit from Nedvědovo náměstí (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/07/13/prague-4-day-143-nedvedovo-namesti/).
‘Východ’ could also translate as ‘east’ – where this street does not head – and as ‘rise’ (but this street is neither the sun nor the moon).
‘Výchozní’ itself can be translated as ‘starting’, ‘initial’, ‘default’ or ‘of departure’.
Levá was built in 1931.
Get on a tram. The 2, the 3 and the 17 will all do nicely.
Take that tram to Podolské nábřeží (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/07/05/prague-4-day-137-podolske-nabrezi/), ideally getting out at Kublov. Don’t ask me about Kublov, because I’m saving that for a later date. Just get out of the tram.
Face away from the river, and walk until you’re on Podolská (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/07/11/prague-4-day-141-podolska/). Estimated time: 30 seconds. If you end up in the Vltava, you’ve gone the wrong way.
Turn left. Walk a little until you come to the Podolí Waterworks (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/07/12/prague-4-day-142-vodarenska/). Face away from those. Face away from those, pretty as they are.
Levá is located, quite literally, to the left of Podolská (if you’re facing the correct way).
Much of what I wrote above was part of my journey home many years ago, only without 77 steps which I do not miss and worked hard to avoid while walking around Podolí for this series.
Na Zlatnici was built in 1925.
You may remember that Podolí was built in an area of vineyards – they’re mentioned on quite a large proportion of recent posts, such as https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/06/11/prague-4-day-114-na-topolce/, which is named after a vineyard called Topolka.
There was another vineyard round here called Zlatnice. When used to describe a person, a ‘zlatnice’ is a female goldsmith.
There’s also a Zlatnice in Dejvice; that one is a a rocky promontory that’s also registered as a natural monument: https://www.praha-priroda.cz/chranena-priroda/zvlaste-chranena-uzemi/zlatnice/.
Nedvědovo náměstí was nameless until 1906.
From 1906 to 1934, the square was called Komenského náměstí, of which there is still one in Prague 3: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/26/prague-3-day-82-komenskeho-namesti/.
From 1934 to 1948, it was called Podolské náměstí.
Miloš Nedvěd was born in 1908. His father, František Nedvěd, would later co-found the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia in the early 1920s, and would have a seat in the Senate from 1929 to 1938.
Miloš went to medical school, where he met Zdeňka Nejedlá; they would marry shortly after graduating. She opened a paediatric practice, while he took on a research internship at a clinic. Both, following in their families’ footsteps, were also active in the Communist Party.
When the Nazis established the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in 1939, both also became active in resistance activities, spreading leaflets and distributing food to families of those who had been arrested.
The Gestapo arrested both of them – and Miloš’s mother – in April 1942 (František Nedvěd was, by this stage, in exile in the Soviet Union, where he would die in 1943), and sent them to Pankrác Prison.
After about half a year, they were transported to Terezín, where they were assigned to provide treatment to their fellow inmates, until they were transferred to Auschwitz in early 1943, where they took on a similar role.
Miloš died there of typhoid a couple of months later; Zdeňka only found out a month later when she was recovering from the same disease.
Later in 1943, Zdeňka was transferred to Ravensbrück. She survived, and returned to her work as a paediatrician in Podolí when the war ended. She stayed in the Communist Party until 1968, when she condemned the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
She died in 1998, aged 89. As a side note, we’ve previously discussed her brother: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2023/01/13/prague-3-day-131-vita-nejedleho/.
For anyone wondering: yes, I agree that it would be nice if the street had been named after both husband and wife, but, when it was named in 1948, Zdeňka was still alive, and streets named after living people are very, very rare indeed.
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 still there, and can be read about on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2023/12/23/prague-3-day-186-u-vodarny/.
Soon, the water was flowing to other nearby towns which would all become part of Prague in 1922: Nusle, Strašnice, Vršovice and Žižkov.
In 1885, the Prague Waterworks, located in Podolí, followed; these (pictured in 1908) supplied water for places as far away as Malá Strana, Karlín and Smíchov.
Further waterworks followed in Braník in 1906 (those will come up before we leave Prague 4 [which is not soon]).
However, the days of all these waterworks were numbered: on 1 January 1914, a new water supply line, the Káraný water source (with water coming from the Jizera river), was put into operation and was, for a time, to supply Prague and its suburbs.
By 1922, though, Prague was bigger than ever, and demand for water was outstripping supply. It was agreed that a new waterworks (Czech: vodárna) would be built here in Podolí, where the previous waterworks had already been closed down in 1911.
Building took place between 1925 and 1929, carried out by the Kress Praha company, based on a design by the architect Antonín Engel. Once the new waterworks were in place, the Vinohrady Waterworks ceased operations and were finally demolished in the 1950s.
Here are the new waterworks as they looked in 1931. Around this time, a chemical water treatment plant was added to the original building.
Reconstruction took place from 1956 to 1965, when a new building with an additional filtration station was built, and again in 1992. The Museum of the Prague Waterworks moved here in 1997.
The waterworks are built in a neoclassical style, with a 45-meter water tower. The building is pretty stunning from any angle.
The statues that you can see here represent the Vltava (in the centre), and ten of its most significant tributaries. From left to right, you have the Vydra, Otava, Blanice, Malše, Berounka, Sázava, Blanice, Želivka, Lužnice and Nežárka.
You’d be looking at closer-up pictures of those statues right now, but the weather in Prague today meant that I decided not to go. Seriously good news for the water supply, mind.
Podolská was built in 1906.
In 1222, the royal chapter at Vyšehrad (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/24/prague-2-day-94-k-rotunde/ for a little bit on that) published its founding charter. This mentioned that the chapter owned a court at Podolí – and makes it the oldest written mention of Podolí that we have.
The settlement had its own church, (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/07/10/prague-4-day-140-pod-vysehradem/, though it looks very different now) and was surrounded by vineyards.
In the 1300s, the people of Podolí were known for buying wood to be shipped up the Vltava to Prague (which Podolí was not yet part of). For more info, take a look at https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/26/prague-2-day-121-na-vytoni/), just to the north.
During the Hussite Wars – see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/02/01/prague-4-day-21-na-vitezne-plani/ to find out what happened nearby in November 1420 – Podolí was devastated, and fell into the hands of the burghers of Prague until regained by the Chapter in the late 1400s.
In 1783 – when Podolí had a grand total of fifty residences – it expanded to include the nearby settlement of Dvorce (separate posts on that coming up soon).
Podolí became well known for its limestone mining – see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/06/17/prague-4-day-120-nad-cementarnou/ – its waterworks (coming up soon), and as a nice place to go for a day trip.
In the early 20th century, the Vyšehrad tunnel was built, as was the Podolí Embankment (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/07/05/prague-4-day-137-podolske-nabrezi/), and Podolí started to grow significantly. In 1922, it became part of Greater Prague.
Nowadays, Podolí has about 13,600 inhabitants – fewer than any of its three neighbouring districts – and 1,107 dwellings (also fewer, but it’s interesting that, Nusle, for example, has over 35,000 residents living at 1,440 addresses).
Obviously, Podolí has a lot of buildings worth mentioning, but I’ll keep quiet-ish about those as they fit better into other posts.
Pod Vyšehradem is very old indeed, but wasn’t named until the 1940s.
It is, quite literally, ‘below Vyšehrad’ – and, if you don’t know Vyšehrad, feel free to take a look through some of the Prague 2 posts, eg https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/24/prague-2-day-95-v-pevnosti/, https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/23/prague-2-day-93-libusina/ and https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/24/prague-2-day-94-k-rotunde/.
There’s also one about Vyšehrad Street itself (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/26/prague-2-day-118-vysehradska/), but I think those are a better read.
Then there’s the story of the Battle of Vyšehrad in 1420: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/02/01/prague-4-day-21-na-vitezne-plani/.
Back on Pod Vyšehradem itself, I quite like the neo-Romanesque Church St Michael the Archangel in Podolí / Kostel svatého Michaela archanděla v Podolí, also simply known as St Michael’s.
Speaking of St Michael, here’s a pretty varied and photo-heavy post from when I was writing about Prague 1: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/07/prague-1-day-173-michalska/.
Rybářská was built in 1930.
Recent posts such as https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/07/05/prague-4-day-137-podolske-nabrezi/ and https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/07/06/prague-4-day-138-podolsky-pristav/ remind us that we are by the Vltava.
Also historically spending a lot of time by the river? Fishermen, or, in Czech, rybáři.
If you’re into a bit of fishing/angling (rybářství) yourself, you will need a rybářský prut (a fishing rod), a fishing net (rybářská síť) and some rybářská výstroj (fishing gear) generally.
Depending on where you’re fishing, you may also need a rybářský lístek (fishing permit) and, if the banks of the river aren’t enough for you, a rybářský člun (fishing boat).
However, in Czech, you don’t go fishing for compliments, but you can go hunting for them (you could say that somebody ‘Loví na komplimenty’).
Podolský přístav was built between 1867 and 1872.
A ‘přístav’ is a port. This one was originally built for rafts; around 1890, it gained a protective dam, and started to be used for sports vessels.
In 1894, the Czech Yacht Club set up a floating shipyard at the port. A German rowing club, Regatta, then built a shipyard on the southern shore.
This building is still present, and is used by the Faculty of Science of Charles University.
In 1912, the Czech Yacht Club built a clubhouse, created by the architect Ferdinand Šamonil; this is still present too.
The přístav is also a generally excellent place to take photos and be away from the crowds.
Podolské nábřeží has existed in its current form since 1990.
From 1904 to 1906, the part of the embankment leading from the Vyšehrad Tunnel (mentioned on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/26/prague-2-day-122-podskalska/) to Podolská (which will get its own post in a couple of days) was called Vyšehradské nábřeží, ie the Vyšehrad Embankment.
From 1906 to 1924, it was named Libušino nábřeží, and for the mythical figure of Libuše, see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/23/prague-2-day-93-libusina/. This is how Vyšehrad, where Libuše supposedly predicted the future existence of Prague, looks while you’re waiting for the tram here.
Then, from 1924 to 1951 (with a break – see below), it was called Rašínovo nábreží, as the embankment directly to the north was/still is – see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/08/28/prague-2-day-125-rasinovo-nabrezi/.
Like Rašínovo nábreží, it was named Karl-Lažnovský-Ufer during World War II, after a journalist sympathetic to the Nazi occupation.
In 1951, Rašín Embankment was again separated: present-day Rašínovo was called Nábřeží Bedřicha Engelse (Bedřich = Friedrich), and present-day Podolské was named Nábřeží Karla Marxe. Probably not much need for me to explain who they were.
Just to make things more complicated: in 1935, the part of the embankment south of Podolská had already been named as Podolské nábřeží.
In 1990, the already-existing Podolské nábřeží and the pre-existing Nábřeží Karla Marxe became one street. Given the latter was not exactly flavour of the month in 1990, the whole street took on the name of the former.
As a main road in a scenic location, Podolské nábřeží is not without its sights and places that you may have wound up at previously. These include the maternity hospital discussed on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/07/04/prague-4-day-136-u-podolskeho-sanatoria/ yesterday.
There’s also Žluté lázně (‘Yellow spa’), a waterside sports facility that has a lot going on in the summer months: https://www.zlutelazne.cz/en.
Then, there’s the Podolí Swimming Stadium, where you may have been recently if these temperatures are too much for you. It was opened in 1965 on the site of a former quarry (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/06/17/prague-4-day-120-nad-cementarnou/).
Princess Diana secretly managed to pop in for a swim in 1991: https://praha.rozhlas.cz/princezna-diana-si-zaplavala-v-podoli-trenerka-si-ji-spletla-se-zavodnici-7604503. The indoor pool was reserved for training only, and Diana, as a good swimmer, was only detected as an intruder towards the end of her session.
Finally, there’s this stunner, but to say any more about it right now would do me out of material for an upcoming post.
On 24 August 1968 – three days after Soviet troops had invaded Czechoslovakia – two 15-year-olds, Karel Paríšek and Karel Němec, were in a car on Podolské nábřeží, being driven home after distributing leaflets condemning the occupation.
A Soviet patrol shot at the car repeatedly. The driver survived; the two boys did not.
A plaque at number 14 commemorates this senseless event.
U podolského sanatoria was named in the 1940s.
In 1909, a notable Czech doctor, Rudolf Jedlička (more on him on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/05/15/prague-4-day-95-u-jedlickova-ustavu/) decided to build a modern institute – the Prague Sanatorium – to serve wealthy clients.
Designed by architect Rudolf Kříženecký, it consisted of five interconnected buildings, with specialist institutes, operating rooms and various baths.
Construction started in 1910 and was completed in 1914, with the facility inevitably serving as a temporary hospital operated by the Red Cross during World War I. The complex returned to its original purpose when the war ended.
During World War II, it was confiscated by the Nazis and served as a sanatorium for members of the SS; after the war, it was used to treat concentration camp returnees who were suffering from tuberculosis.
In 1946, the complex was transferred to the Ministry of Education and Public Education, who intended for it to be used to provide healthcare to mothers and their children.
Since 1951, it’s been known as the Ústav pro péči o matku a dítě (Institute for Mother and Child Care); it’s colloquially known as the Porodnice v Podolí (Podolí Maternity Hospital). It cooperates with many national and international organisations, including the WHO.
This sculpture at the entrance is by Czech-born Canadian artist Lea Vivot.
Podolské schody were built in 1925. There may be a proper street sign up at the top.
These are the ‘Podolí Steps’, built around the same time as much everything else round here, when Podolí was newly part of Prague and expanding.
The steps got a bit of attention in late 2023, when railings were added – and not only did the municipal government of Prague 4 not finance, order or approve this, but they only found out when the public did: https://archiv.prahatv.eu/zpravy/praha/praha-4/19238/zabradli-na-podolskych-schodech-vyvolalo-zhavou-diskuzi.
Brabcova was built in 1938.
It’s not been easy to find information on this one. Apparently, Karel Brabec was born in 1909, was a labourer, and a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
He was executed in 1942 for taking part in resistance activities.
Before 1952, the street was named after Hynek Krušina z Lichtenburka, a noble who first fought on the Hussite side in the 1400s, then on the side of the Catholics.
Ve svahu was built in 1925.
A ‘svah’ is a slope or a hillside, and this street is, as you’ve already guessed, located on one.
For vocabulary fans, a ‘lyžařský svah’ is a ski slope, whereas a steep slope would be a ‘příkrý svah’.
