GUIDE
4. Religion
Many Czechs were converted to Christianity in the 9th century by the ‘Apostles of the Slavs’, the monks Cyril and Methodius of Thessaloniki. Christianity became the state religion under Wenceslas, duke and patron saint of Bohemia. In 1415 the popular reformer Jan Hus was burned at the stake and Bohemia became a hotbed of anti-Catholic nationalism. In 1620 the Protestant Czechs were defeated at the battle of Bila Hora. Bohemia was pulled into the Thirty Years’ War and the Habsburgs re-Catholicised the nation. After 1948 communism brought state atheism and repression of all religion. The largest church in the country is the Roman Catholic, though only 27% call themselves Catholic. Of half a dozen Protestant churches, the largest is the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethen.
St. Vitus Cathedral