Czech volunteers create history trail through old Prague cemetery
Prague's Olsanske cemetery is by far the largest graveyard in the city. It is the final resting place of over a million people, including many of the leading figures of the Czech national revival and scholars and artists. You can also find there the graves of Czech legionaries from the First World War, as well as Commonwealth and Russian soldiers who lost their lives on Czechoslovak territory during the Second World War.
However, this burial ground is often the target of vandals and some of oldest parts of Olsanske cemetery are in very bad repair. Among the greenery, sandstone tombs, a couple of centuries old, are nearly falling apart, their roofs caved in. Some of them have their doorways bricked up to stop unwanted guests from using them as toilets or places to sleep...
But in the oldest part of the cemetery, the view is a little more optimistic. The eye is attracted by small white tablets scattered among the graves with photos and texts paying tribute to some of the long departed. That's the work of Roman Catholic priest Milos Szabo and his parishioners from the nearby district of Zizkov.
"I had this idea that a history trail could lead through the graveyard with signs telling the visitor which notable people are buried here. Anyone would be able to find the particular grave and pay their respects to the dead. Or for example, professional groups, such as mathematicians, physicists, and philosophers could find their great predecessors. Or teachers could tell their pupils about famous writers."
The first dead were buried in Olsany in 1680 during a plague. A chapel, now outside the cemetery, commemorates the epidemic. In 1787, Emperor Joseph II made Olsany the central cemetery for Prague. Located outside the city walls, it was a safer burial place than the old graveyards in an already overcrowded city.
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However, this burial ground is often the target of vandals and some of oldest parts of Olsanske cemetery are in very bad repair. Among the greenery, sandstone tombs, a couple of centuries old, are nearly falling apart, their roofs caved in. Some of them have their doorways bricked up to stop unwanted guests from using them as toilets or places to sleep...
But in the oldest part of the cemetery, the view is a little more optimistic. The eye is attracted by small white tablets scattered among the graves with photos and texts paying tribute to some of the long departed. That's the work of Roman Catholic priest Milos Szabo and his parishioners from the nearby district of Zizkov.
"I had this idea that a history trail could lead through the graveyard with signs telling the visitor which notable people are buried here. Anyone would be able to find the particular grave and pay their respects to the dead. Or for example, professional groups, such as mathematicians, physicists, and philosophers could find their great predecessors. Or teachers could tell their pupils about famous writers."
The first dead were buried in Olsany in 1680 during a plague. A chapel, now outside the cemetery, commemorates the epidemic. In 1787, Emperor Joseph II made Olsany the central cemetery for Prague. Located outside the city walls, it was a safer burial place than the old graveyards in an already overcrowded city.