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Night of Churches , which takes place this Friday, is an annual nationwide event that gives visitors access to church interiors that are normally inaccessible. Churches across the country also invite people to a rich cultural programme featuring concerts and lectures.

The Czech National Bank has unveiled a new gold coin dedicated to the west Bohemian city of Plzeň. Although its face value is 5,000 crowns, collectors are already paying almost 60,000 for it. Made from pure gold, the coin features some of Plzeň’s best-known landmarks and forms part of the bank’s series honouring historic Czech cities.

The decline in eel populations is a long-term problem not only in Czechia but across the entire EU. The main cause is dams, which prevent their free movement. At present, their return to original habitats is mainly supported by transporting them from the sea into freshwater rivers, but it is becoming clear that much more will need to be done in the future.

The garden of Rothmayer Villa in Prague, one of the finest examples of Czechoslovak interwar architecture, is now open to the public free of charge. Visitors can now explore the garden, famously photographed by Josef Sudek, without having to join a guided tour of the villa itself.

Prague’s public transport operator has unveiled the new cars for the Petřín Funicular, allowing the public to see them for the first time, as reconstruction of the line moves toward completion in the second half of September.

The Czech Senate celebrated 30 years of existence in a ceremony on Tuesday evening. But what has the upper house of Parliament actually achieved in the last three decades? And could talk of abolishing it ever become reality? I discussed those questions with political scientist Petr Just.

An unvaccinated preschool child from the Ostrava region has died after contracting diphtheria, a disease that had become extremely rare thanks to routine immunization. The case has prompted renewed concern about vaccine coverage, with health officials urging parents not to delay their children’s scheduled shots.

Richard Falbr, a former head of the main Czech trade unions umbrella body and MEP, has died at the age of 85. A very well-known face in public life in the 1990s, Falbr was born in the UK during the war to a Czech airman father and Spanish mother.

The line-up of the 2026 Prague Sounds multi-genre music festival has just been announced. Names such as sitar star Anoushka Shankar, jazz pioneer Shabaka and electronica-and-visuals wizard Max Cooper will appear at a variety of venues in the city during November’s landmark 30th edition.

Prague Castle’s Renaissance jewel, the Royal Summer Palace of Queen Anne, better known as the Belvedere, is closing to the public for nearly two years as a major restoration project begins. The Prague Castle Administration has launched the extensive renovation at an estimated cost of around 100 million Czech crowns, marking one of the most significant conservation efforts at the Castle complex in recent years.

Czech researchers have discovered that nanoplastics can weaken the lungs’ natural defence system, raising fresh concerns about the health risks posed by the tiny particles now found almost everywhere in the environment. Using a special microscope, the scientists were able to observe exactly how nanoplastics behave inside the lungs.

This week saw the launch of Jsem Tu Novej (I’m New Here), a book by the British ambassador to Prague, Matt Field. Proceeds from the autobiography, which takes its title from a social media campaign that quickly made the freshly arrived diplomat well-known in Czechia, are going to the Pink Bubble Foundation, which helps children and young people with cancer. I spoke to Mr. Field at the presentation at the British Embassy.

This weekend, more than 100 usually inaccessible buildings and spaces across Prague will open to the public free of charge as part of the Open House festival, whose theme this year explores the link between historic preservation and urban development. I spoke with the festival’s Michaela Pánková and first asked her about some of this year’s highlights linked to the main theme.

Orchard owners in several regions are dealing with the consequences of the frosts. According to preliminary estimates by the Fruit Growers Union, the harvest will be roughly half of the average, and the damage could reach hundreds of millions of crowns.

At the Fragile Security conference organised by Czech Radio, political, military and intelligence leaders debated Europe’s future security in an increasingly unstable world. Czech President Petr Pavel, Ukrainian envoy Valerii Zaluzhnyi and other prominent international voices warned that Ukraine’s war remains a test of democratic resilience and Western resolve.

New plaques at Prague’s Old Jewish Cemetery pay tribute to staff at the city’s Jewish Museum who saved countless valuable artefacts during the Holocaust. The memorial helps mark the 120th anniversary of the foundation of the museum, one of the oldest institutions of its kind in the world.

Czechia is set to receive an American doctor exposed to Ebola while treating patients in Uganda. He is due to arrive in Prague on Wednesday evening at the request of the United States. Health Minister Adam Vojtěch says the case poses no risk to the public.

When psychiatrist Jaroslav Skála opened the world’s first medically supervised sobering-up station, he wanted to help intoxicated people rather than punish them. Although his idea revolutionised immediate care for intoxicated people, sobering-up stations are now in decline.

A two-year-old lynx named Bardi has completed what experts say is the longest lynx migration ever recorded in Czechia. The young male travelled from the Šumava region in the far south of the country all the way to the German side of the Krušné Hory Mountains in the north, covering at least 160 kilometres in a straight line.

In a sports hall in the Czech town of Pelhřimov, a dream from the age of steam and brass finally lifted off the ground. A nearly three-meter-long replica of the Albatross - the fantastical flying machine from Jules Verne’s 1886 novel Robur the Conqueror - successfully took flight, earning a place in the Czech Book of Records.

The annual GLOBSEC Forum is set to bring over 2,000 guests – including presidents, ministers and business and civil society leaders – to Prague later this week. Run by the think-tank GLOBSEC, the strategic conference will deliver dozens of in-depth discussions focused on geopolitics and transatlantic security.

A once-neglected passageway inside the iconic Prague apartment building known as Molochov has been transformed into a new gallery space. The opening exhibition features works by illustrator and artist Jakub Bachorík.

The story of the theft of the skull of Saint Zdislava, which shocked the nation last week, has a happy ending. The police found it in time and restorers say it will be preserved for future generations. However, questions still remain about when and under what conditions it will be displayed again.

Fragile Security: The Future of Ukraine and the European Continent is the title of a conference being held by Czech Radio’s Plus station in Prague next Wednesday. President Petr Pavel will be among those speaking, alongside big-name guests from Ukraine, Poland and the US. I discussed the conference with Josef Pazderka, head of Plus.

Puppets are considered a true national heritage in Czechia. Therefore, it is no surprise that when one of the most famous of them, the little rascal Hurvínek, celebrates his 100th birthday, celebrations are taking place across the entire country.

He is big, shaggy, kind-hearted, and loves his best friend Ája – Maxipes Fík is an animated fairy-tale character who has been wishing children good night for five decades. Nevertheless, it is also a prime example of Czech animation resulting from the collaboration of top Czech creators.

Eurovision kicked off this week and Czechia’s hopes now rest on 23-year-old singer and actor Daniel Žižka, who will take to the stage in Thursday’s second semi-final in Vienna. Performing Crossroads, Žižka will be hoping to secure a place in Saturday’s grand final.

Book World Prague , Czechia’s biggest literary festival, gets underway at Prague’s Exhibition Grounds this week, featuring around 60 international writers, including historian Timothy Snyder. Ahead of the festival, I spoke with its director, Radovan Auer.

On Thursday MPs will again discuss a government motion declaring that the Czech Parliament is opposed to a Sudeten German gathering set for Brno at the end of next week. But why has the first ever congress held by the “Landsmannschaft” in Czechia become such a heated issue? I discussed the matter with political scientist Jiří Pehe.

The skull of Saint Zdislava, a priceless 800-year-old relic, was stolen this week from a glass case in the Basilica of St Lawrence and St Zdislava north of Prague. The theft has stunned clergy and worshippers alike, raising fears over the fate of an important religious and historical treasure.

Šumperák is the nickname of a type of house built in Czechoslovakia mainly during the 1960s and 70s. Ostensibly modernist, even avant-garde, with its distinctive first storey angled roof and balcony, the story of the Šumperák is in fact far more layered and complicated than may originally appear.

For decades, Wolfgang Beltracchi fooled the art world with paintings he passed off as lost works by famous artists. Now the German former forger is exhibiting his own paintings in Prague.

Cities and municipalities in the Czech Republic and Slovakia are gaining a new ally in the fight against climate change. Using freely available European satellite data, Czech and Slovak researchers have developed an app that will help local governments to better respond to drought, overheating, and the decline of urban greenery.

The biggest classical music festival in Czechia gets underway on Tuesday as the 81st edition of the Prague Spring International Music Festival opens with Bedřich Smetana’s Má vlast, performed this year by the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra. This year’s line-up features leading international orchestras and soloists alongside contemporary music events under the Prague Offspring banner. I spoke to the festival’s artistic director Josef Třeštík about this year’s highlights, Artist-in-Residence Barbara Hannigan, and why contemporary music remains an important part of Prague Spring.

Last winter Nico Moro managed to walk from Třebíč all the way to the Olympics in Milan. He covered more than 920 kilometres on foot in 31 days and gained many fans and supporters. Less than three months later, he already has a new goal – Fribourg, Switzerland.

Czech soccer has made international headlines for all the wrong reasons, after the Prague derby between Slavia and Sparta was abandoned when Slavia fans stormed the pitch – and attacked Sparta players. Slavia were just moments away from lifting the league title but will now face disciplinary action. I discussed the situation with Slavia fan Yon Pulkrabek; he and his sons, aged 14 and 11, have been season-ticket holders for several years.

Filip Šír from the National Museum in Prague has spent years researching into a series of remarkable wartime broadcasts made by the much-loved Czech duo Jiří Voskovec and Jan Werich.  Their satirical sketches and songs, some of them in English, were broadcast on shortwave from the United States and formed an important part of the campaign to fight Nazi propaganda and indoctrination with humour. Until recently they had been all but forgotten.

František Moravec, Jan Kubiš, Adolf Opálka and Jaroslav Krátky are well-known names to Czechs. They are paratroopers, who escaped to Great Britain where they were trained by the RAF and parachuted into occupied Czechoslovakia to fight the Nazis in WWII.  Now they are linked by a very special memorial – an alley of linden trees in the Vysočina region, south-east of Prague.

A new exhibition is currently underway at the Náprstek Museum of Asian, African and American Cultures in Prague, marking 200 years since the birth of Vojtěch Náprstek, a remarkable 19th-century figure who was not only the founder of a museum, but also an innovator, politician and early advocate for women’s rights.

A Sudeten German association’s plan to hold its first ever congress in Czechia later this month has become a hot button political issue. Now the prime minister has joined the debate, warning that such a gathering could harm Czech-German relations.

A fossil of a previously unknown arthropod species, Soomaspis labutai, has been uncovered in rubble during construction work on Prague Metro’s D line. Hidden beneath the city for nearly half a billion years, the find offers new clues about how some life forms survived Earth’s first mass extinction.

Thousands of people rallied in Prague on Tuesday in support of the country’s public broadcasters, amid growing concern over a government plan to scrap license fees and make them dependent on state funds.

Politicians, veterans and members of the public gathered outside Czech Radio’s Prague headquarters on Tuesday to mark the 81st anniversary of the Prague Uprising against Nazi rule. The uprising began on 5 May 1945, near the end of the Second World War, and the ceremony honoured those who fought and died in the final days of the occupation.

The annual Anifilm International Festival of Animated Films kicks off on May 5 in the North Bohemian city of Liberec. This year’s programme features more than 500 animated films and games, alongside exhibitions, talks and other accompanying events. I spoke with programme coordinator Radek Hosenseidl and began by asking him about this year’s main theme, which is myths and legends.

Firefighters across Czechia had a busy weekend, responding to hundreds of fires amid extremely dry and unusually hot weather. The most serious blaze is still burning in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park in the north of the country.

Rare archaeological finds from the era of Great Moravia, including an ivory vessel believed to have been brought to the region by Saints Cyril and Methodius, are now on display at the Archaeological Museum in Modrá in the Zlín region. The new exhibition in the site’s treasury presents some objects that have never before been exhibited.

While much of the world celebrates love on Valentine’s Day in February, in Czechia it is May 1 that truly belongs to lovers. This spring date is marked by kisses under blooming trees, meetings beneath the statue of poet Karel Hynek Mácha, and a long tradition of romantic symbolism.

An extremely dry April is beginning to take its toll on vegetation. A lack of moisture is threatening agricultural crops in two-thirds of Czechia and farmers fear a poor harvest if rain does not come soon.

This month saw the release of the first postage stamp designed by the multi-award-winning illustrator and writer Peter Sís. The Česká pošta stamp marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Vojtěch Náprstek, a Czech patriot and politician who was also a pioneering Czech language journalist in America. Peter Sís says the fact he himself lives in America may explain why he got the commission.

The fate of Štiřín Chateau, a Baroque estate near Prague, which hosted presidents and cabinet ministers, remains uncertain. The Czech state has failed to find a buyer for it, despite repeated attempts to sell the property and a dramatic reduction in its asking price.