Cemeteries and memorials to visit Czech Republic

The most famous cemetery in the Czech Republic dedicated by "the grateful homeland" to "great men" (and women). In addition to top athletes, soldiers and politicians, you will find the tombs of the composers Dvořak and Smetana and the tombstones of many men and women of letters: Božena Nemcová, Karel and Josef Čapek, Karel Hynek Mácha... Other artists such as Mikulaš Aleš and the actor Vlasta Burian, are also buried there.

This group of statues is located at the bottom of Petřín hill, not far from the starting point of the funicular. A row of sculptures of naked and dark men decompose as one rises up the stairs, a symbol of communism that destroys everything to the very flesh of its citizens. The work of Olbram Zoubek (Pomník obětem komunismu), created in memory of the victims of the communist era, has been controversial since its creation and was even damaged in 2003.

Under the nave of the Church of St. James lies the largest ossuary in Central Europe. It contains the bones of a 13th century cemetery which, once it became too small, were stored in three crypts under the church in the 17th century. But epidemics of plague and cholera caused many deaths and extensions had to be built in the middle of the 18th century. They were dug under the old cemetery. After a few years, the extensions being already full, the two ossuaries were connected by corridors and then, at the end of the 18th century, the whole was closed and sealed under large stone slabs. It was only in 2001 that archaeologists discovered it when the streets were dug up during the renovation of the district. After the excavations, the ossuary was completely redesigned and can now be visited freely. One can walk between the remains of more than 50,000 skeletons occupying the entire volume offered by the vaults where they were arranged in a very "artistic" way in conditions that ensure their proper preservation. Less impressive than the Parisian catacombs (which would shelter the bones of more than 6 million Parisians), the ossuary remains nevertheless striking by the quantity of skeletons piled up and the placements, sometimes hazardous, sometimes artistic in piles, pyramids, columns, etc.

This cemetery is the largest in the city. It is a huge place, entirely "covered" by trees. In summer it is cool and families stroll around looking at the many squirrels that brighten up the cemetery. It was founded in 1680 following a plague outbreak. Today it is known to house the tomb of Jan Palach, the student who set himself on fire on 16 January 1969 in Wenceslas Square to protest against the invasion by Warsaw Pact troops in 1968.

Memorial (Národní památník na Vítkově) commemorating the Hussite wars, and in particular the Battle of Vikov in 1420. 9 m high equestrian statue of the Hussite war commander Jan Žižka has dominated the site since 1950. Considered the highest equestrian statue in the world, it is visible from almost every other part of the city.

Behind it, a huge granite building, built in 1930, housed the Communist Party mausoleum. Inside were preserved the "sarcophagus" of Clement Gottwald and the tombs of other great names of communism. But all the vaults are empty now. After 1989, the bodies were burned and the funeral urns handed over to the families. The greatest mystery surrounds Gottwald's mystery that the family did not want to accept. It must be said that Gottwald had been exposed, mummified in his stone sarcophagus as it was customary to do in the East (Lenin's mausoleum in Moscow, Dimitroff's in Sofia). To carry out this mummification, and to maintain it, cold rooms were built in the basement of the mausoleum where the thanatopractors worked tirelessly... The Gottwald case was particularly difficult because, because of its alcoholism, mummification turned into a disaster. In desperation, the party called on the Barrandov film studios, which rebuilt Gottwald out of plastic using the mummified remains of his remains, which were cremated in 1962... All this was a bit morbid.

Established in 1947 by the Czech government, the memorial preserves the site of the transit camp as it was at the time of the Nazi terror. To visit the memorial, you have to go to different places of remembrance, which are relatively scattered on the territory of the municipality of Terezin.

The police prison in the small fortress. In 1940, the Nazis opened a prison in the small fortress built in the 18th century for the military city. 32,000 prisoners were imprisoned here before being sent to the death camp or taken to court. Year after year, the living conditions of the prisoners became harsher. Most of them worked outside the prison, in Nazi companies, contributing to the war effort of the Reich. From 1943 on, the Nazis carried out executions without trial; 250 people were shot between 1943 and 1945. But in the evening, in their cells, the prisoners met secretly to give meaning to their violated existence. Theresienstadt was for many a camp for artists and intellectuals opposed to the regime and the prisoners organized recitals, readings, plays, concerts and, under the direction of rabbis and priests who were themselves imprisoned, prayer vigils. The exhibition in the small fortress shows some of the thousands of drawings and poems executed by prisoners, who found there a way to overcome the horror of their daily lives.

The Ghetto Museum. From November 1941, as part of the Final Solution, the Nazis hunted down the Jews of Central Europe and gradually deported them to Theresienstadt, where they first settled them in the camp barracks (Magdeburg barracks). In 1942, the Nazis forcibly evacuated the town of Terezin and commandeered the buildings to house more Jews; soon, the attics, cellars, and even the casemates in the ramparts were overrun with prisoners. During the lifetime of the Theresienstadt ghetto, 155,000 people were interned in these atrocious conditions, subjected to deplorable hygiene and starvation. However, the Nazi command allowed a certain amount of cultural and artistic freedom to its victims, in order to mask the true nature of their confinement. Jewish intellectuals and artists in the ghetto made life there less unbearable by organizing cultural events authorized by the Nazis. This aspect of the deportation is on display in the Magdeburg Barracks. It shows the artistic life in the ghetto and how the imprisoned Jews continued to practice music, literature, and theater with improvised means, to make the imprisonment "more livable" or at least to help bear the terrible living conditions. Alas, while convoys brought more prisoners every day, other trains left, taking Jews from the ghetto to the unknown.

The Jewish cemetery and crematorium. The dead of the ghetto were buried in individual graves or mass graves. In September 1942, the Nazis built a crematorium where 20 to 30,000 dead were burned. The urns containing the ashes were placed in columbaria, but the Nazis destroyed them before the end of the war and the ashes were thrown into the nearby Ohre River, near which the memorial was built in 1955.

This memorial located on the site of the battle of Austerlitz(Slavkov in Czech) commemorates the dead of the different camps that fought there. The architect wanted it to be a place of light and peace. Plaques in Czech, French, Russian and German honor the memory of the soldiers who fell on this immense battlefield. At the four corners of the pyramid, four statues represent the three armies that fought each other and the Moravia where the battle took place.

Rather gloomy visit. The catacombs hosted the members of the Jesuits after their death. From 1676 to 1783, more than 200 bodies were placed here. The corpses are well preserved, thanks to a ventilation system that mummifies them. In the years 1930, the church of sudden work and canals ventilation were buried. This change of air conditioning deteriorated many corpses, this is why, today, you can see only thirty of them. The others, too damaged to be accused, were buried in the Scallops cemetery.