Sokolovská is the main street which connects Prague city centre with the districts of Karlín, Libeň and Vysočany. It begins at Florenc (tourists know this place as the location of Prague Florenc central bus station) as the continuation of Na Poříčí Street. On the other side it ends in Vysočany at the intersection with Vysočanská and Freyova streets, and continues in the same direction under the name Kolbenova.
Metro and Trams
Both metro and trams go along the entire length of Sokolovská Street. On metro line B it is the section between Florenc and Vysočanská stations.
There are tram tracks in the middle of Sokolovská Street. They provide the most direct tram connection between the city centre, Palmovka and industrial and residential districts in the north-east, particularly Vysočany, Libeň and Hloubětín.
Another street that runs closer to the river parallel to Sokolovská in its first section from Florenc to Invalidovna is Rohanské nábřeží (Rohanské Embankment) – that one doesn’t have trams, but has more car traffic.
The Street’s Name
Although there is a relatively large town named Sokolov in the Czech Republic (close to Karlovy Vary), this street is actually named after the city of Sokolovo in Ukraine, where an important World War II battle took place in 1943, also involving Czechoslovak troops. The street got this name in 1948, which is quite interestingly the same year when the town of Sokolov got its current name, although for different reasons (it was named Falknov nad Ohří before that). The town’s name is derived from falcon (the bird) – sokol in Czech or Falk in German.
Sokolovská Metro Station
Sokolovská Street gave its name to today’s Florenc metro station, where the street starts in the city centre. The station was named Sokolovská from its opening in 1974 until 1990, when it was renamed to Florenc – partly due to the political atmosphere following the Velvet Revolution (many other Prague metro stations changed their names at that time) and partly for practical reasons, because there are several other metro stations in Sokolovská Street.