The outgoing Czech government has imposed a nationwide state of emergency aimed at countering the spread of the coronavirus epidemic. The state of emergency came into force on Friday and will be in place for thirty days. The government has also banned the operation of Christmas markets, with effect from November 26, with the exception of the sale of Christmas trees and carp. The markets on the Old Town Square and Náměstí Republiky were to be operated by Taiko. Other markets were prepared on a smaller scale on Mariánské náměstí, and organized directly by Prague City Hall. Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib called the government’s decision to cancel the Christmas markets “outrageous.” “The government’s decision to abolish the outdoor Christmas markets literally from day to day is outrageous for all operators and stallholders, who often bought the goods on credit. It is unbelievable that they had the stalls built and will now force them to demolish them again. The government must offer adequate financial compensation to all stallholders as soon as possible,” added Hřib. “Disrupting Christmas markets overnight is the pinnacle of ignorance. Shops remain open, outdoor stalls do not. It is necessary to realize that for many small businesses, holding markets is one...
Wine lovers rejoice! The LÁHVE store in Prague is expanding the geography of its assortment: Spain now joins France, Italy, Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic. The added location means customers have access to 36 brands of Spanish wines (11 white and 25 red). LÁHVE remained faithful to its concept – to offer customers high-quality wines from the middle price segment. An illustrative example: to select the 36 brands, the store formed a tasting committee which evaluated 120 samples from Spanish winemakers. Only 30% of the submissions were lucky enough to hit the shelves. The tasting committee consisted of five people — two professional sommeliers and three wine connoisseurs with many years of experience. All employees of the store also participated in the tasting in order to have a personal idea of the wines sold. – the tasting committee consisted of five people – two professional sommeliers and three wine connoisseurs with many years of experience. All employees of the store also participated in the tasting in order to have a personal idea of the wines sold; – wines were tested in ascending order of value; – at the first stage, the samples were evaluated according to three key parameters:...
The Czech online supermarket Rohlik has reached out to help small farmers and entrepreneurs who have been hit by the ban on Christmas markets On its Twitter account, the company opened the possibility for small sellers or farmers to contact Rohlík and offer their goods directly through the online supermarket. Rohlik.cz said it would be able to start selling their products online within three days. “We want to help small producers and producers! For them, closing the Christmas markets can significantly reduce sales. The pandemic situation is serious, but we have a solution. We offer producers the opportunity to sell with us,” says Rohlík’s PR manager Denisa Morgensteinová. “People have the opportunity to join this initiative through an online form. We will contact them and then offer their products on our website and distribute it to people,” Morgenstein told iDNES.cz. According to Morgenstein, the assortment can include gift items, as well as food and drinks. “It is clear that we will not deliver a warm svařák (mulled wine) or crawfish. However, we are trying to come up with some solutions and include the classic products that are sold on the Christmas markets,” she adds. “We are trying to help farmers...
The National Museum in Prague opened a new permanent exhibition dedicated to prehistory on Nov. 24. Windows to prehistory display about two thousand artifacts, mainly in the field of paleontology, but also mineralogy. The exhibition is arranged chronologically. In the Proterozoic section, visitors will find a lot of trilobites and fossilized plants. Among the fossils is also cooksonia — a fossil of the oldest designated terrestrial vascular plant in the world, which the museum has had in its collections for more than a hundred years. It comes from the collections of Joachim Barrand and the specimen lived on Earth about 432 million years ago. It measures about six centimeters. This is followed by a walk through history to the Quaternary in the Czech lands, which will enliven the models of prehistoric animals, tell the story of the saber-toothed tiger, mammoth and cub. It will also introduce the only Czech dinosaur, Burianosaur. Showcases in black frames are part of a design that architect Renata Slámková helped create for the National Museum. The black moving rollers above the showcases will represent the terrain of the Czech landscape through lights and shadows. The luminous fibers play the ceiling of the exhibition hall to...
Having a roof over your head during the cold winter days and feeling safe should not be something one must prove to be worthy of. Everyone deserves to have a home, and everyone has the right to feel secure. Despite this, the UN-Habitat has found that a shocking 1.6 billion people live in inadequate housing conditions. What is worse, homelessness is becoming more and more prevalent as time goes on. Understanding how grave this is, cities and governments all over the globe are working on finding ways to help those who do not have access to housing. However, only a handful of them are succeeding in bringing about meaningful change. Ever since the outbreak of the pandemic, Prague has increased its efforts to help homeless individuals. Last year, it built an integrated system of emergency housing solutions using EU funds. With this system, citizens who found themselves at risk of – or already in – a housing emergency could access support at one of the Contact Points for Housing in the city’s districts. There, depending on one’s situation, they could either obtain counselling, legal aid, or temporary housing. Also in 2020, Prague unveiled a crisis accommodation program, providing homeless citizens with...
Worried citizens in certain localities in Prague have come together to share their concern over the number of drug users in their once-peaceful areas. Inhabitants, especially in Prague 5, claim that large groups of drug users gather around contact centres, and they have now demanded change. The citizens’ petition, and the joint declaration of several city districts, has been created to insist that these services are instead spread throughout Prague. The council has now complied with the concerned locals and approved a resolution according to which the municipality should start working on the decentralization of these services and increase the budget for cleaning and guarding critical areas. The most affected areas include the vicinity of Anděl, near the U Zvonu tram stop in Prague 5 and around Mahenova Street, where locals have even documented cases where drug addicts stab themselves in the middle of the street. A petition “For a safe and clean Prague 5” has been created, which has been signed by hundreds of concerned locals. “I sign because I do not like this situation, I have a daughter of 10 years old and she has found a syringe several times, people have shouted at her several times and...
“That’s pedaling, isn’t it?” wonders the author of one of the comments under a photo of a strange toy car driving through the center of Prague. Among various imitations of electric scooters and horse-drawn carriages, other novel attractions made their way to the metropolis — much to the distaste of regular car drivers. A group of low single-seater cars drive along the road in the center of Prague. Laughing people in helmets sit behind the wheel. But drivers in ordinary cars do not share much joy with them. “Carriages, scooters and cyclists are constantly holding back traffic like this. Now, this is it,” one driver remarked. “Another tourist attraction, as if the disgusting ‘replicas’ of historic cars weren’t enough,” added another critic who is more bothered by the strange design of the toy cars. The cars in question are mini hot rods: miniatures of popular modified cars with giant engines in America, which are designed for racing on straight tracks. The ones in Prague are designed for driving around the city. The company Hot Rod Prague offers the ride as an experience, which is resold by other portals such as Slevomat.cz or Firmanazazitky.cz. For half an hour, customers pay 800...
This year’s Christmas tree for Prague’s Old Town Square is on its way. The 21-meter-tall spruce had been growing on private land in the village of Dolní Černá Studnice. Yet the tall Christmas tree which will dominate the square is already on its way to the capital and will be officially lit on November 27th. This particular tree, says Petr Hozák of Taiko, comes from “a private garden,” and he noted that it has “wonderful branches.” It’ll definitely need them for all the decorations that’ll be hung on it. You can also rest assured that, after its duty as the centerpiece of the Old Town holiday festivities, it will be properly recycled and re-used in some form. Last year’s Christmas tree came from the village of Semily (Liberec Region) in the north of the Czech Republic. The market organizing firm Taiko looks for trees that are in danger of being cut down in the near future. This way, the impact of cutting down the tree is minimal as it was already destined to come down. In addition to the Old Town Square market, there are other markets (and smaller trees) at Wenceslas Square, Naměsti Míru, Kampa Island, and on the...
In the last few years, the importance of shopping centres has been growing- not only as a place for convenient shopping, but also as a space for meeting and spending free time. On this premise, Galerie Harfa shopping centre has recently opened a gourmet market offering products, and food from around the world. Gourmet Harfa is a unique market inside the shopping centre where customers can choose between several different cuisines of the world. Customers can taste authentic dishes of the region and can immediately buy the ingredients needed for their preparation at home. Gourmet Harfa has an open kitchen studio, where unique cooking shows will be held twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays with the participation of leading chefs. Leading chef Marek Raditsch, who has become the face of the Gourmet Harfa and will take part in the preparation of cooking show programs, will make sure that it is attractive and high-quality gastronomy. “I like the idea that you can taste and buy ingredients for preparing various world dishes in one place,” Raditsch said. “Czechs like to experiment in the kitchen, get inspired, look for quality ingredients and are willing to pay for them. And this is exactly...
In the 1970s, Florenc cut the highway, becoming one of the most heinous places in Prague. A hub for international transport, it’s the first thing you see when getting off a train or bus. Now, planning is underway to transform Florenc into a livable community. Currently, there are three designs in the finals of the architectural competition. In the 15th century, Charles IV allowed the Italians to settle in the region. This is probably where the local name came from — Florenc. Now, architects from several countries are applying to help revitalize the area. Three international teams succeeded with their proposals, and the winner should be announced Dec. 1. For the first design, three separate groups joined together: architects from the Czech studio Unit Architekti, A 69 architects and the studio operating mainly in London Marko & Placemaker. The first two studies took part in the Kyje-Hloubětín urban study. However, the third studio has already worked in Prague, in the Smíchov City project. The architects had sociologists, economists and experts on climate change and transport at their disposal. This team considers Florenc a place that connects and heals the city structure or as a transport hub or a dynamic and...
The covid pandemic canceled last year’s Christmas markets, but the first festivities of this year’s season will return Saturday, Nov. 20. Náměstí Míru will be filled with traditional assortment and delicacies. The festive atmosphere will be extended to Tyl Square the following Friday. Both markets will be open until Christmas Day, per a Prague 2 press release. The advent in Prague 2 mainly includes cultural, social and family events, all of which are usually organized by the town hall during this period. Concerts in churches with free admission are especially popular. “For the last Sunday in November, we are preparing an Advent stop at Ludmila. A spontaneous meeting in the middle of the Christmas markets with excellent potato pancakes and mulled wine is a great opportunity to welcome Advent time. On the third Sunday of Advent, on the steps of the church of St. Ludmila, we will meet with our representatives and we will all sing Christmas carols together with our neighbors from Dvojka,” invites Mayor Jana Černochová (ODS). Christmas markets The Christmas markets on Náměstí Míru begin on Nov. 20, and those on Tyl Square on Nov. 26. Visitors will be welcomed daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.,...
As Christmas season approaches, Manifesto will once again become a place to spend time with loved ones in an environment that evokes an exceptional mood. At Manifesto Anděl, visitors can leave the cold and sleet behind and slip into the heated “Anděl’s market under the roof,” filled with the scent of seasonal hot cocktails that drifts into the air at the market. On November 24, a Christmas tree will light up the street corner at the western entrance with the personal participation of the Mayor of Prague 5, Renata Zajickova. There will also be a sale of trees and themed cultural programs to participate in, from winter cinema screenings to children’s workshops. Manifesto Winter Market 2021 will be held in Manifesto Florenc for the third time. Heated glamping tents will complement the trees and elegant light decorations, accompanied by singing by the fireplaces. Program tips The main program will be dedicated to Christmas evergreens throughout December. St Nicholas is preparing for the families at Manifesto, in both markets the children will meet the Angel, St. Nicholas, and the Devil. Creative workshops for little ones, like creating St Nicolas’ hats and Christmas decorations, will take place at Anděl. There are also...
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