Explore Prague

🌿 Hello May

And… Happy Labour Day.

In many places, May 1st is about work.
In Czechia, it also carries a bit of history – once strongly associated with the communist era, parades, and obligatory celebrations.

But today, it feels… a little different. Because here, May 1st is also known as a day of love. A day when couples traditionally kiss under a blooming cherry tree 🌸

So suddenly, there’s quite a lot on the agenda:
hard work… and true love. Not a combination you see every day. So whether you’re working,or enjoying not working at all – or perhaps just looking for a tree…

we hope May starts well 🤍

⛪️ 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐮𝐞’𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬… 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐂𝐳𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐬 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐆𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐮𝐜𝐡

Walk through Prague and it’s hard not to notice the churches. Gothic towers, baroque domes, chapels on almost every corner ✨ It feels like a deeply religious city. And yet, today, Czechs are among the least religious people in the world.

So what happened?
The oldest churches you see mostly come from a time when Czechs were still deeply religious, with many dating back to the era of Charles IV – a deeply religious and highly influential ruler who turned Prague into an imperial capital, concentrating wealth, power, and prestige here, which allowed for the construction of so many monumental churches.

That changed in the 15th century, when Jan Hus began criticizing the Church and speaking directly to ordinary people.He was executed for it – but his ideas didn’t disappear. 🔥 In fact, Czech lands came very close to becoming what we would later call Protestant. But that path never fully materialized.

In the 16th century, Czech lands fell under Habsburg rule, and for almost 400 years (1526–1918), a Catholic Austrian monarchy pushed to bring them back into the Catholic fold.

Many of Prague’s baroque churches date from this period ✨ – built as part of a broader effort to bring people back into the Catholic fold, in a time when religion was no longer just belief, but also pressure – an effort that, in the long run, never fully succeeded.

After 1918, with the fall of the Habsburg monarchy, there was a brief attempt to reconnect with the country’s earlier Protestant roots – for example through the newly formed Czechoslovak Hussite Church ✨

But it never truly became dominant, and religion as a whole was already losing its grip on society. Then came the communist period, when religion was actively suppressed and pushed out of public life 🚫⛪️

And unlike in countries like Poland, where the Church became a symbol of resistance ✊, in Czech lands that kind of pushback never fully emerged.
All of this created a quiet paradox: a city full of churches ⛪️ in a country where people mostly just walk past them 🚶‍♂️

🇨🇿 An interesting look at what matters most to Czechs today – what they value, what they worry about, and whether Czechia really is as secular as its reputation suggests.

If you’re curious about the mindset behind Czech culture, this survey offers a useful glimpse beyond the stereotypes.

Worth a read for anyone trying to understand the country a little better 👇

🇨🇿 What matters most to Czechs? What do they strive for and what do they fear? Are we really the most atheist nation on the planet? The “Czechs 2026” survey, conducted by the Solvo Institute mapped the values, attitudes, and concerns of Czechs. The study involved more than a thousand people across the Czech Republic.

👉 Find out more here: rozhl.as/jmB