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The "Twelve Days of Christmas" officially end today with the coming of the Magi, as it took the 'Three Kings' (as the wise guys are known in Czech) a while to get to Bethlehem in between seeing the star and handing out the frankincense and myrrh. In a much less organized tradition than that of St Nicholas - which takes place exactly one month prior and sees Prague's streets literally swarming with costumed figures - you may very well spot a few trios of kings tonight. They usually go from pub to pub singing a Czech folk song roughly equivalent to "We Three Kings of Orient Are." If you like the song, you should spot them each a pint or give them the monetary equivalent thereof.

Easter itself, Velikonoce in Czech, is celebrated the Monday after Good Friday, not on Sunday as it is in the West. An old tradition has the boys of the village or town going from door to door with long willow wands, with which they hit girls, chasing them through the streets if necessary. These girls then have to give them Easter eggs. In Moravia, the playful boys throw water on the lucky girls for their Easter eggs.
Easter eggs have a long and strong tradition in the Czech Lands. Excavations of pagan Slav graves show that even these pre-Christian denizens of these lands painted their eggs. The egg then was a symbol of life and fertility, and its magic powers were increased when it was painted and decorated. The advent of Christianity failed to put the tiniest dent in this tradition, and over the years it grew more complicated, with developments in wax and dyes. Secret techniques were passed along from generation to generation - so much so that each region has its own patterns, and you can recognize where an egg came from by looking at the design.

The pagan Slavs that lived in these parts long, long ago used to make an effigy of the Goddess Morana - who was in charge of death, winter, and other bleak things - around this time of the year. They then burned the effigy and threw it into a river or another body of water in order to symbolically do away with winter so that the spring could come. After the advent of Christianity, it was more appropriate to burn witches than pagan goddesses, and gradually the date for doing so was fixed at April 30. Discouraged under the communists, "Carodejnice" (Witch) night celebrations have, since the Velvet Revolution, become a popular excuse to go out, have fun, and get drunk. There are a number of such celebrations to choose from each year in different parks and night spots.

In older times, the night between April 30 and May Day in the Czech lands saw village youths staying up all night to guard their maypole from the aggressive youths of neighboring villages (that is, when they weren't going to neighboring villages to knock down the maypole of their rivals). This no longer happens, but a tradition that hasn't yet died out says that on May first, all unmarried women must be kissed beneath a blooming tree lest they dry up into dust and be blown away sometime during the following year. To stay with a kissing theme, a modern urban Prague legend has it that lovers are supposed to go up to Petrin hill in Prague on this day, and enough people believe this story that it is beginning to turn into a tradition. Petrin hill is also where you'll find the statue of the young poet Karel Hynek Macha - he is best known for his beautiful lyrical poem, "Maj" (which is about May 1) and it is to this statue that the romantic couples of a literary bent make their way. President Havel even laid flowers at the statue in 1996. May Day is still celebrated as the Labor Day holiday in the Czech Republic (though without the massive communist manifestations of the past) and everyone is off work, so you should be in good company if you go.

The first of these two Czech holidays is a celebration of Czech culture, commemorating the arrival of Saints Cyril and Methodius, who brought Christianity to the Czech Lands in the 9th century, along with the written word. Check out our History Online pages for more on early Czech history.

This national holiday is on the death of Jan Hus, an early protestant reformer of the Church who was burned at the stake as a heretic in the 15th century. An early proponent of holding Mass in local tongues made him an enemy of the Church and a national hero in the Czech Lands.

Also known as Foundation Day or National Day depending on who is doing the translating, this anniversary marks the day the old Czechoslovakia gained its independence from Austria-Hungary in the last days of World War I and is not celebrated in neighboring Slovakia, which prefers to date its independence to January 1, 1993 (the day the old Czechoslovakia became defunct). You can expect to see a lot of closed stores and offices around town on this day - and if you are in the Wenceslas Square area, you may even see a Mr. Bean lookalike speechifying - if you do, you can be sure that it is the leader of the Czech Republic's ultra-right Republican Party, Miroslav Sladek - who is well-known for his predilection for creating scenes in Wenceslas Square on this date. To keep him from doing that, Prague City Hall has reserved Wenceslas Square on October 28 for the next 50 years. In addition to events being held there and up the hill at Prague Castle - we recommend stopping at Zofin, the newly renovated turn-of-the- century building on the island opposite the National Theater. Celebrations there are being held in cooperation with the Czech Ministry of Defence - and so should include plenty of pomp, circumstance, army bands, 21-gun salutes and soldiers in dress uniform. While the Castle holds an invitation-only affair on the night of the 28th, organizers of the Zofin festivities hope the same VIP's will show up for their gala evening - which includes ballroom dancing and is open to the public - on the 29th.
October 28 from 15:00, October 29 from 9:00 (Gala Evening begins at 20:00 - but check local listings for full details), Zofin, Slovansky Ostrov, Prague 1, tel. 294 861

This unofficial holiday is in honor of Jan Opletal, a student killed by the Nazis in 1939. A march by students on this day in 1989 was the beginning of the demonstrations that became the "Velvet Revolution" that brought down the communist regime.

On this night each year, the streets of Prague play host to a myriad merry Sts. Nick, each of which is accompanied by a host of devils and angels. In the past, friends or relatives would arrive thus attired at the home of small children and hand out rewards for the kids' behavior over the last year: presents and sweets for the good kiddies, and coal for the bad. Nowadays, that service to parents is mostly provided by students, who get dressed up and hire themselves out for about 20 Kc a pop. If you plan your wanderings around Prague this evening just right, you can also catch the ceremonial lighting of the Christmas tree at Prague Castle at 5 p.m.

More than 50% of Czechs regularly tell the pollsters that they are atheists - that does not, however, stop them from going to Midnight Mass once a year, on Christmas Eve. This Christmas tradition's a romantic leftover of the Habsburg era, and even though the churches and cathedrals of Prague are rather cold on Christmas Eve, and the seats are hard and uncomfortable, it's become so popular since the Velvet Revolution that you should arrive at least a half hour early to ensure that you'll get in, and even earlier if you want a seat. This is especially true if you want to go to one of the churches listed here, as they are some of the most beautiful and most popular in Prague. For religious services of other denominations see the monthly "Culture in Prague" or other local sources.
Cathedral of St Guy (Katedral sv. Vita) Prague Castle, Prague 1, tel. 536 265

Tyn Cathedral of the Mother of God (Chram Matky Bozi pred Tynem), Staromestske namesti, Prague 1, tel. 231 8186

Church of Sts Peter and Paul (Sv Petr a Pavel na Vysehrade), Vysehrad, Prague 2, tel. 24 91 13 53

Church of St Salvador at Charles Bridge (Studentsky kostel Nejsvetejsiho Salvatora u Karlova mostu, tel.267 119

Midnight Mass with folk music, Church of St Lawrence (Sv Vavrinec na Petrine - near the mini-Eiffel tower at Petrin) Prague 1

As in many other places in the world, New Year's Eve (or St. Silvester's Day) in the Czech Republic is little more than an excuse to go out and get as drunk as possible. In the past, the preferred places for doing this were in one of Prague's main squares - Wenceslas Square or Old Town Square. Since the Velvet Revolution, these two public squares are taken over each New Year's Eve by obnoxious busloads of Euro-hooligans - mostly from Italy and Germany - who throw empty bottles and illegal fireworks at their fellow revellers. This has prompted cooler heads to make for the indoors - to celebrate at home, at the local pub, at their summer cottage (or chata), or at one of Prague's clubs instead of in these open spaces. Wherever midnight finds you this year, you'll want to shake the hands of the people who happen to be standing nearest to you and wish them "Stastny novy rok" (Happy New Year).

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