Quick Facts

Country Name: Czech Republic
Population: 10 million
Land area: 78,866 sq km (30,450 sq mi)
Capital: Prague; population 1.2 million
Official language: Czech
Currency: Czech Crown (CZK)
Time Zone: GMT+1, Daylight Savings Time observed
Religion: Atheist 40%, Roman Catholic 39%, Protestant 4%, Other 17%
Climate: Temperate. Cool to warm May - September (showers and thunderstorms common), mostly chilly October, March and April (rain or snow possible), cold, cloudy and wet with snow and freezing temperatures November - February; skiing December - March.
Foreign languages spoken: English or German common; some Italian, French, Spanish

Stacking Your Postcards

Krivoklat
Like Karlstejn, this castle underwent a reconstruction overseen by Joseph Mocker. It started out as a hunting lodge, a weekend getaway for the Premyslid Princes and the seat of the royal master of hounds. Later, Wenceslas I built a stone castle on the spot and Charles IV used it in the 14th century.The castle is over 900 years old. Surrounding the castle are some hiking trails and a few shops and restaurants are located in the courtyard. You must take a tour to see the interior of the castle. Be wary of the midday break in the castle's opening times.

Moravské Slovácko Region
This region is one of central Europe's richest repositories of traditional folk culture in the republic.The main town of the region of Uherské Hradišt , founded by P emysl Otakar II. in 1257 as a royal town lies in the southeast part of Moravia, which belongs to the region traditionally called Moravské Slovácko. In the region there are 78 communities and 98 community parts, 7 towns and 145 1040 citizens.

Saint George's Basilica
Saint George's church, the second oldest at Prague Castle, belongs to the most important czech romanesque monastic basilici. It was founded in the year 920, by which Christianity was spread over the Czech State.

Two events considerably increased the importance of the church. One of the events was the placing of the relics of the first Czech female Saint, Ludmila, into the church. The other event was the founding of the first Czech convent by Princess Mlada.

One of the most rare monuments in the chapel is a three-winged relief on the west wall. It is an old romanesque sculpture with influences from Saxon. It represents the throne of Mary, crowned by angels. Saint George's Church contains preserved parts of some of the oldest stone architecture.

Prague Zoological Garden
Opened in 1931 on an area of eight hectares. At present, it covers an area of 45 hectares, has 12 kilometres of paths and a funicular. Though not the earliest institution of its kind in Europe, Prague Zoo has linked up with a tradition unmatched by other countries. Prague Zoo is one of Europe's largest zoo, because of its perfect location. It has a total of 1,960 animals, representing 360 species of mammals, birds and reptiles, 50 of them very rare.

Destination Guides

Prague
Prague is my favorite city. It is beautiful and I always have fun there. The only bad thing about Prague is the mass of others that also think that it's a great place to be. Walking down the street on any given day, it usually feels like there are more tourists then residents! The flocks of tourists have certainly raised the prices, but they are still quite reasonable. They have also given Prague a really wide variety of restaurants and plenty of internet cafes and anything else that a tourist could need.

The city has a great old town. There are lots of tiny streets, beautiful buildings, and is a great place to buy gifts. Local artists make all sorts of things that are beautiful, cheap, and easy to bring home. Avoid the old town for gifts and buy them direct from the artists on the Charles bridge, or from a shop for artists that is two blocks after crossing the bridge on the right, where the street opens up and the street cars curve by. Underneath an overhang and through some wooden doors is a shop with only art from prague artists. A wide variety of prices, things, and sizes.

Moravian Karst
The Moravian Karst belongs to the most important karst areas in the central Europe. It consists of strongly karsted devon limestones. There are more than 1000 caves found in this area of 100 km2. Four of them are opened to public (Punkva caves, Balcarka cave, Catherine's cave, and Sloup-Sosuvka caves).

Brno
As the second-largest city in the Czech Republic, with a couple of really good museums and galleries plus a fair bit of nightlife, BRNO is worth a day of anyone's time. The city was a late developer, the first cloth factory being founded in 1766, but by the end of the nineteenth century it was easily the largest city in Moravia. Between the wars Brno enjoyed a cultural boom, heralded by the 1928 Exhibition of Contemporary Culture, which provided an impetus for much of the city's modernist architecture. After the war, Brno's German-speakers (one quarter of the population) were sent packing on foot to Vienna. Capital fled with the capitalists and centralized state funds were diverted to Prague and Bratislava.

A steady stream of people plough up and down Masarykova, the main shopping route, which is lined with five-storey mansions, some embellished with fantastic decorations. Follow the flow north and you'll end up at nám stí Svobody – where most of Brno comes to shop. To the left, halfway up Masarykova, is Zelný trh, a low-key vegetable market on a sloping cobbled square, with a huge fountain in its centre. At the top of the square, the plain mass of the Dietrichstein Palace contains the Moravian Museum (Tues–Sat 9am–5pm), a worthy collection of ancient and medieval artefacts. Much more interesting, if only for its macabre value, is the Capuchin Crypt (Tues–Sat 9am–noon & 2–4.30pm, Sun 11–11.45am & 2–4.30pm) to the far south of the square, a gruesome collection of dead monks and top nobs mummified in the crypt of the Capuchin church. Clearly visible from Zelný trh is the Old Town Hall.