Holiday Traditions in Prague

There are many new traditions for us to participate in here in Prague. The Czech Christmas (Vanoce) is celebrated on the 24th, with the 25th and 26th spent visiting friends and family.

The city of Prague is full of Christmas trees. They are called Vanocni Strom and all the main squares of town have a tree.

Malastranska Namesti:

You can't see it in the picture, but there are children on the opposite side of the tree singing Czech Christmas carols.



Vaclavska Namesti (Wenceslas Square):


Between the National Theatre and the Magica Lanterna:

On the night before the 6th of December the Czech version of Santa (St. Miklas) comes to visit. In small towns and especially in the past the men would dress up as either St. Miklas, an angel, or a devil. They would go to the door of each house and ask if the children had been good or bad. Today people young and old dress up with their friends. The most common thing to do is to go around in groups of three, with one person in each character. St. Miklas wears white and a large hat and looks quite a bit like the Pope with a white beard. The angel also wears white, and has wings. The devils wear black or brown face paint, and dark, ragged clothes. They usually drag a chain around after them along the ground. On the Charles Bridge there was a group of these devils lighting fireworks and yelling at tourists. In this picture two children are dressed as St. Miklas.


Another tradition is the Christmas market. In many squares and shopping centers small huts are set up and they sell food, drinks, and traditional holiday decorations and ornaments. At the larger markets there are stages, and in this picture a Czech pop star is singing. We tried to buy a CD but they didn't have any, unfortunately.


The small market in our square.


A market in Dresden, Germany. The German's have many of the same traditions that the Czech's do.
And of course there are Christmas parties! At my work party we went bowling before having a nice buffet dinner. Strike!



Happy Holidays! Vesele Vanoce!