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Archaeologists are busy excavating massive walls of a Moravian castle dating back to the early Slavonic Age of nearly a millennium ago. The extraordinary find, made near the Comenius Museum in the town of Přerov, sheds lights on how royals sought to guard a medieval trade route in the Moravian Gate valley.

Amidst growing fears of the spread of coronavirus, the National Security Council on Wednesday moved to bring the situation under greater control announcing that respirators will be centrally purchased and distributed to those most in need. The prime minister said the council would issue directives which must be respected in all regions and appealed to the public to help the effort by limiting travel, the Airbnb business and not taking unnecessary risks.

The opening up of the archives of Pope Pius XII by the Vatican is seen worldwide as an opportunity to find answers to long-term questions about the secretive pontiff who was in charge of the Holy See between 1939 and the early stages of the Cold War. There are also hopes that the documents could shed light on the Vatican’s position towards Czechoslovakia in many of the key moments of the country’s history.

The National Gallery in Prague has received a major donation of Japanese Zen art, which includes over 500 hanging scrolls with ink paintings. The scrolls are part of the so-called Kaeru-An collection, put together by private art collector Felix Hess, and their value is estimated at 35 million crowns. They will become part of the gallery’s permanent Collection of Asian and African Art.

There were tens of thousands of telephone booths in the Czech Republic at the turn of the millennium. Today there are only 1,500, with more and more being removed by the day. While few seem to be shedding tears of nostalgia, some municipalities have found new uses for them.

The first incidences of the new coronavirus in the Czech Republic were announced on Sunday, making the country one of around 70 around the globe to have now registered Covid-19. On Monday the prime minister said that flights between the Czech Republic and three Italian cities and South Korea were being suspended, and that a major skiing event would take place behind closed doors. I discussed the latest developments with Dr. Srdan Matic, head of the World Health Organisation’s Czech office.

As the number of COVID-19 infections continues to rise in Europe, the Czech government is increasing precautions. At a press briefing on Thursday Health Minister Adam Vojtěch stressed that as of yet there are no confirmed cases of the virus in the Czech Republic and urged citizens not to give way to panic.

The city of Prague on Thursday bowed to the courage of Russian pro-democracy activists who laid down their lives in the quest for human rights. The square Pod kastany where the Russian Embassy stands was officially renamed after the slain Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov and a nearby promenade was named after investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya shot to death in 2006. Among those watching the ceremony was Nemtsov’s daughter Zhanna and one of Politkovskaya’s former colleagues.

The Czech Republic is not doing enough to address the problem of international homelessness, suggests the Prague-based Organisation for Aid for Refugees, which has just released the country’s first Stateless Index. Developed by the European Network on Statelessness, the annual index assesses how various countries protect stateless people and what they are doing to prevent and reduce the problem. I discussed the issue with lawyer Petr Baroch from the Organisation for Aid for Refugees:

The Czech town of Žatec is best-known for its exceptional hops. But in recent years it has also been the setting for many Hollywood productions, including the movies The Zookeeper’s Wife and JoJo Rabbit, which won an Oscar earlier this month.