In the past the bank of Vltava had not been regulated. According to a legend, the tortured body of Jan Nepomucký, who was canonized later on, arrived just there in 1393. It was also pulled out to the bank there. In the baroque period there was made a sculptural group to this saint, work by Ferdinand Maxmilián Brokof, from around 1725. St Jan Nepomucký has been presented there as a beadsman. The sculptural group of the saint with a beggar on a pedestal decorated with relief is nowadays standing in front of the church of the Holy Ghost.

The area, which had been only partially built up, was thus started to be called the Square of Jan. Since 1960 it has borne name of the French-Polish family of the Curies. Marie Curie, born Sklodowská (1867-1934) has won the Nobel Prize twice, in 1903 for physics and in 1911 for chemistry. Frederic Joliot Curie (1900-1958) won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1935.

Two significant buildings partially turn into the square. One of them is Intercontinental hotel, which was built in 1968-1974, then for rich foreign clients. Authors of the project were arch. Karel Filsak, Karel Bubeníček and Jaroslav Švec. Another building is the previous neo-classicist house of the Association of engineers and architects no. 100, built in 1927-1928 according to design by arch. František Krásný. Completion and reconstruction of this building, whose result was complex of buildings for hotel use, occurred successively during 1969-1989. The wide team was spearheaded by arch. Karel Filsak.