Celetná Street

Celetná is a street in the Old Town of Prague. It links Republic Square by the Powder Tower with Old Town Square and is one of the oldest streets in the city.^[1] It is the first section of the Royal Route.^[2]*

Name

The name of the street is documented in the 14th century. It was called the street of the Caltnéři and Caletná and later settled as Celetná. The caltnéři were bakers who baked calty, braided rolls.^[2][1]

History

The entrance to the street and to the Old Town was guarded by a gate called Odraná in the early 13th century. In 1475 the New Tower, today's Powder Tower, was built on its site.^[1] The King's Court stood on the site of today's Municipal House, and rulers therefore rode along this street to Prague Castle.^[2] At the corner of Celetná and Ovocný trh stands the Mint building, No. 587. In the 14th century it was the court of the Bohemian queen, converted into a mint in 1420. With interruptions the mint operated here until 1783. In 1784 the building became the provincial military command, and since 1850 it has housed courts.^[1]

Buildings

The street consists of thirty-five houses.^[1] The House of the Black Madonna, No. 569, was built in 1911–1912 to a design by the architect Josef Gočár as a commercial building with a café on the first floor and a Cubist interior.^[2] The house At the Golden Angel, No. 588, contained a coaching inn where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart stayed during his visit to Prague.^[2] On a small space where Celetná meets Štupartská Street a fountain in the shape of a Romanesque capital by the sculptor Jan Bartoš and the architect Stanislav Hubička was installed on 23 February 1988.^[2] The Church of Our Lady before Týn stands between Celetná Street and Old Town Square.^[3]

Sources

1. Městská část Praha 1
2. Magistrát hl. m. Prahy (Praha virtuální)
3. Magistrát hl. m. Prahy (Praha virtuální)