Prague Streets – Peace Square In Czech this is known as Namesti Miru but for the purposes of the post I’ll just call it Peace Square. It’s located in the second district called Vinohrady. Now it’s a bustling public transport hub surrounded by cafes, restaurants and a theatre and dominated by a large church. But … Read More
Prague Streets – Dušní If you are on your way to see the official city memorial to Franz Kafka then next to it you cannot miss the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Spirit built in 1348. In Czech, Dušní means “Holy Spirit”. Dušní runs from Dlouha Street less than 100 metres from the Old … Read More
U Železné Lávky – At the Place of the Iron Footbridge On the Prague Fords post I explained how present-day Prague developed and grew based on the ability to be able to cross here between both sides of the river for much of the year using a number of fords. Later there would be a … Read More
Jan Palach Square – Namesti Jana Palacha If ever there was a place in the city that highlights why names of locations change over the years it’s the current Jan Palach Square. The names used here include it’s location, its function, a prince, an empress, two composers, a communist name and a memorial. It’s a … Read More
Karlova – Charles Street Anybody who visits central Prague at some point in their trip will walk along the road called Karlova. It’s the road that links Charles Bridge with the Old Town Square. To be accurate, Karlova links the square on the Old Town side of the Charles Bridge (Křižovnické náměstí – the square … Read More
Prague Streets – Dlouha Dlouha Street, or to give it the correct name, Dlouhá třída, is a street in Prague’s Old Town that connects Staroměstské náměstí (Old Town Square) and Revoluční Street (New Town). Literally it translates as the Long Street. To understand how Dlouha Street changes over time you have to understand where the … Read More
Prague Streets – Ovocný Trh (the Fruit Market) Trh is an easy word to recognise in Czech as it means “market”. So the word in front of it should give the game away i.e. ovocný means “fruit”. So Ovocný Trh means Fruit Market but historically this area of the Old Town was much more than … Read More
Prague Streets – Národní Národní or “National Street” was formed almost by accident. Back in the mid-13th Century a fortified wall surrounded the Old Town with a moat in front of the wall. Later the New Town would be defined as the area on the opposite side of that moat. The fortified wall stands there … Read More
Prague Streets – Klárov Klárov is not just a street, it’s an area and today although it’s just a little park its importance to the history of Prague cannot go unrecognised. If you find the Malostranska Metro station on a map then the road directly in front of it is Klárov. It extends up the … Read More
Prague Streets – Jeruzalemska Like many street names in Prague we have to go way back in time to make sense of them. In our case that means going back to the 14th Century to get a clue as to where Jeruzalemska got it’s name because it’s NOT directly named after the city. It was … Read More