We did make it to Prague!

All of the luggage made it with us!  We were collected by a driver and taken to our hotel.  

We were tired after our day of travel so we ate at the hotel restaurant.  The meal in the picture was mine.  It was the first of many meat and dumpling meals we had while in this part of Europe. This one was delicious! Of course we had to try Prague beer! Randy was revisiting pizza in Europe, but it wasn’t quite Italy.

Because our flight came in late in the day  we missed both of our scheduled excursions.  We were able to rebook one but totally lost an excursion about Czech Resistance in World War II.  

My general knowledge about the history of the Czech Republic was very poor, knowing little more than it used to be called Czechoslovakia.   A novel I read during trip preparation, Prague Spring, was set during a brief period of expanded freedoms in 1968. The Soviet Union objected and stopped the new found freedoms with a harsh invasion.  

Good for you if you knew more than I did, but if you don’t…here is a very brief (and inadequate) summary.

The area now known as the Czech Republic was called Bohemia when it was populated by the Celts in the 4th century BC.

The Roman Catholic Church expanded in 950 AD and Bohemia became part of the Holy Roman Empire.

Charles IV ruled in the 14th century and his rule is considered the golden age of Bohemia. He was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1355. 

In the 1800s, the Austrians and the Habsburg Empire took control of Bohemia.  Their defeat in World War I allowed for the creation of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918.  

Great Britain, France and Italy agreed to sacrifice Czechoslovakia to Adolf Hitler at The Munich Conference in 1939.  As there were no representatives of Czechoslovakia present, this is considered The Great Betrayal.  (This is just stunning to me!)

After World War II, the restored Czechoslovakia came under Soviet influence. The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia ruled until 1989.

The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the spring of 1968. Some reforms were allowed including a loosening of restrictions on the media, speech and travel. Not approving of the reforms, the Soviet Union invaded in August 1968.

In 1989 the Communist regime collapsed due to the Velvet Revolution – massive non-violent demonstrations led by students and dissidents  resulting in the end of one-party rule in Czechoslovakia.  

On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia was peacefully divided into Czech and Slovak Republics, both independent countries.

The Czech Republic joined  NATO in 1999 and the EU in 2004.

My brief history lesson is complete. The next day we were up and ready to start exploring!  Our first destination was the Sedlec Ossuary or “Bone Church.”

We saw some interesting buildings on the way!

During the Russian occupation all small private farms were acquired and made into large farms.  After the Velvet Revolution, people got their land and businesses back because of well kept records in the archives. 

We made it to the Cemetery at the Church of All Saints. On the grounds is the Roman Catholic Sedlec Ossuary or “Bone Church.”   It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

The story began when a monk went to the Holy Land and got soil from Golgotha in Jerusalem.  He spread the soil in the cemetery to make it holy and people from all over the area wanted to be buried there.  Over many years, wars, and plague epidemics, the number of burials in this cemetery was huge!.

In the 14 century, the monks wanted to build a chapel in the middle of the cemetery and came upon the mass graves of 40,000 to 70,000 people.  

A century later, a half blind monk exhumed and cleaned the bones. 

Ossuaries were common during the 14th to 16th cemeteries.  Using and storing bones in this way was not thought to be disrespectful. 

At the Sedlec Ossuary there were five massive piles of bones with many used for decoration and furnishings.

There are 30-40,000 human bones in artistic arrangements in the chapel but pictures were not allowed. I bought postcards and took pictures of the postcards.

The Sedlec Ossuary is among the most visited sites in the Czech Republic.

Next up: The Unesco World Heritage Site of Kutna Hora.