The City Park That Turned Out to be a CEMETERY!!

When I was planning my trip to Prague (see Walking My @$$ Off in Prague for city photos) I thought to myself what a giant city park right next to my hotel.  I was imagining relaxing strolls through this heavily wooded park after work each night.

Once I arrived to my hotel I quickly realized that this was no city park; it was a GIGANTIC cemetery – and an old one at that.  It is so old that a forest grew up all around it.

The Olšany Cemetery was created in 1680 to accommodate Prague's many plague victims and it served as the city's main burial ground for centuries and is the final resting place of countless victims of disease and war.  Divided into sections, the graveyard consists of the Jewish Cemetery, which includes the grave of writer Franz Kafka, and the Christian Cemetery, where you'll find the final resting place of a more recent notable Czech, Jan Palach, who set himself on fire in 1968 in protest against the Soviet invasion (although his body was taken from Olsany Cemetery in 1973 to prevent his grave from becoming the site of organized protests, his coffin was returned in 1990). Despite its somewhat morbid history, it remains a wonderful place to explore due to its many mysterious old tombs and Art Nouveau monuments.

This place must be seen, so please indulge my sharing a number of photos from my very brief exploration of the southwest corner of this Gothic-looking place that the locals actually do seem to treat as a park.

It is a place to see; even if it doesn't sound like it should be!!