The Night of Churches will open over 1400 temples, chapels, and prayer rooms

Prague - More than 1400 churches across the country will be open this evening and night as part of another year of the Night of Churches. A total of 6440 programs are prepared, with concerts, workshops, lectures, and guided tours of worship spaces awaiting visitors. Those interested can also choose from an unconventional offer, including tastings of sacramental wines, tours of bell towers, organ lofts, and other places that are usually not accessible. Programs for children are also included.

In the Prague archdiocese, over 300 open churches, chapels, and prayer rooms will welcome visitors. A violin concert by Jaroslav Svěcený is prepared at St. Vitus Cathedral, an iconographic workshop in the Cathedral of St. Cyril and Methodius in Prague 2, and a performance of Leoš Janáček's Our Father along with staged images of the individual parts by the Libocký choir at the Church of St. Fabian and Sebastian in Prague 6 - Liboc.

In Brno, visitors can look forward to the Night of Churches 2018 tram ride, during which directors, educators, and actors Jiří Strach and Zdeněk Černín or bishop Juraj Doval from the CČSH will talk with passengers. In Vranov near Brno, visitors are attracted by guided tours of the Liechtenstein tomb or video mapping. A comprehensive 3D visualization of Santini's entire work will be possible to view in Herálec in the Žďár region.

In the Hradec Králové diocese, they have prepared an experiential game called Save Kateřina! dedicated to the saint whose cult was also supported by Charles IV. Around sixty churches in Bohemia were founded under the name of St. Catherine. In Hradec Králové, two cycling routes with five and six stops at sacred sites have also been prepared.

In the Litoměřice diocese, morning programs for schools have been organized. Among this year's attractions in the diocese is the church in Žibřidice, which will be opened to the public for the first time in 60 years; in Kamenický Šenov, 300 candles are to be lit for the birthday at the Church of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, the building celebrates its 300th anniversary this year.

In Liberec, there will be a unique exhibition of relics of saints from Christian antiquity at the Church of St. Anthony the Great, and in the Church of St. Anthony of Padua, visitors will be able to view a newly constructed chapel dedicated to the stigmatization of St. Francis, which is not normally accessible.

The first Night of Churches took place in Vienna in 2005. In 2009, it crossed borders and was held for the first time in the Czech Republic. By 2010, churches and prayer rooms opened throughout the Czech Republic, and in 2011, it was also held for the first time in Slovakia, with the Night of Churches taking place in Estonia since 2012. In 2016, the first Night of Churches was held in Switzerland.

For the first year of the Night of Churches in the Czech Republic in 2009, 25 churches in the Brno diocese and nine churches in the Plzeň diocese participated. In recent years, around 1400 churches and prayer rooms participate annually. Interest has consistently been high, with about 450,000 visitor entries each year.