A wildly unlikely tale attempts to explain the odd name of a local park A hill overlooking Prague’s largest cemetery, Olšanské hřbitovy, has an undeservedly shady reputation but is now home to…
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architecture, Bohemian lifestyle, cemeteries and memorials, ghosts and phantoms, magic prague, Prague and Bohemia, standing stones
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Jan Mikolášek: the herbal healer behind the film Charlatan
A folk-medicine expert with an alleged gift claims to have treated over five million people, including many celebrities The new Czech-Irish-Polish-Slovak biopic Charlatan (Šarlatán) takes a look at the life and career…
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Baba Studio, baroque, cemeteries and memorials, Jewish folklore, Magic Bohemia, magic prague, Prague and Bohemia, Tarot of Prague
Mystical gold coins helped to build two Prague synagogues
Rather fanciful tales put a colorful spin on the origins of some buildings in the Prague’s historical Jewish quarter
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baroque, cemeteries and memorials, churches, Devil, ghosts and phantoms, Magic Bohemia, magic prague, mummies, Prague and Bohemia, Tarot of Prague
A Swedish looter met a supernatural fate in the Thirty Years’ War
The failed attempt of the Swedish army to conquer Prague at the end of the Thirty Years’ War has been back in the news, as a Baroque-style Victory Column that was toppled…
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cemeteries and memorials, churches, ghosts and phantoms, Magic Bohemia, magic prague, Prague and Bohemia, vampires
A practical guide to Moravian vampires
In the early 1700s, part of the Czech Republic was at the center of suspected vampire activity There was a “vampire panic” across much of Central and Eastern Europe in the first…
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baroque, Bohemian lifestyle, cemeteries and memorials, churches, ghosts and phantoms, magic prague, Prague and Bohemia
Ghostly goats of the Golden City
Among the more curious supernatural apparitions in Prague are some stubborn goats Prague at night is a virtual menagerie of spectral animals. There are the mundane yet otherworldly dogs and cats, and…
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baroque, Bohemian lifestyle, cemeteries and memorials, churches, Gothic lifestyle, magic prague, Prague and Bohemia, vampires
Prague’s cemetery row
The city’s gardens of stone offer a retreat from the overly touristed center Visitors to Prague can be quickly overwhelmed by how crowded the main tourist attractions are. But there are a…
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A French major haunts Vyšehrad
The War of Succession left behind a spirit who refuses to accept defeat Not all soldiers leave after a war. Some are left in faraway graves, while others refuse to accept their…
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baroque, Bohemian lifestyle, cemeteries and memorials, magic prague, Prague and Bohemia, secret societies
The tragedy of the House at Death
A May – December romance went horribly wrong in Prague’s Old Town Prague’s street Dlouhá třída, now lined with touristy bars and expensive shops, was once where the wealthy elite lived. It…
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alchemy, architecture, Bohemian lifestyle, cemeteries and memorials, churches, Gothic lifestyle, magic prague, mummies, Prague and Bohemia, saints and relics, secret societies
Two ghosts who nailed it
Malá Strana has two ghosts who suffered painful deaths that involved iron nails A pair of otherwise unrelated ghosts a few streets apart in Prague’s historical Malá Strana area have something in…
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alchemy, architecture, baroque, cemeteries and memorials, churches, ghosts and phantoms, magic prague, Prague and Bohemia, secret societies
The headless skeletons of Jánský vršek
The mysterious spectres wander the same small group of streets The area around Prague Castle has quite a few frightening apparitions. Two of the most unsettling are at Jánský vršek, just down…
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The miraculous painting by Charles Bridge
An eternal flame, a portrait of St Mary and two washer rollers make an odd shrine If you cross Charles Bridge, you may notice an odd shrine on the small balcony of…