St. Vitus Cathedral

Our Visit to Prague, Czech Republic

On our second day in Europe, we flew from London to Prague.   We were greeted at the airport by Miloslav Cech, the lay pastor of St. Luke's UMC in Karlovy Vary.  He was our guide as we toured this historic city.   We started by walking to Wenceslas Square.  Milo explained that the square has served as the political center for the country.  In 1968, a huge popular demonstration was put down there by the Soviets.  In 1989, more than 300,000 persons gathered there to claim freedom.  The demonstration continued over several weeks and spread to other cities.  This is know as the Velvet Revolution and marks the fall of the Communist Government.

n Old Town Square, we saw a large statue of Jan Hus (1369-1415).   Hus served as an advocate for church reform about 100 years prior to Martin Luther.   During his time, only catholic priests were permitted to drink the wine during communion.  Hus advocated that the common church member should be able to take both the bread and wine.   He was excommunicated to Germany and killed.

The city has several historic churches.   We spend some time at the Church of St. Nicholas, a church completed in 1760 that is a striking example of Baroque architecture.  At St. Vitus Cathedral, we encountered majestic walls joining vivid stained glass windows.  St. Vitus was filled with tourist.   Milo explained that church attendance is very low throughout the Czech Republic.   He said that it is reported to be the most agnostic country in Europe.