Czechia celebrates two public holidays this week – will stores close?

Czechia will celebrate two public holidays this week – Saints Cyril and Methodius Day (on Friday, July 5) and Jan Hus Day (on Saturday, July 6). But what does this mean for store openings around the country, and will things function as normal?

In short, stores will operate as usual; they are not legally mandated to close by law. The Retail and Wholesale Sales Hours Act (which came into law in 2016), which mandates the closure of stores over 200 square meters on holidays, does not apply to these days. 

There is a chance, though, that opening hours will differ – this is up to the store or supermarket’s discretion and varies widely from shop to shop. 

Many workers, particularly those with white-collar jobs or who work in offices, will have the day off on Friday. Jan Hus Day falls on a Saturday – Czechia does not give holidays in lieu if they fall on a weekend – meaning there is no public holiday the following Monday, sadly!

Saints Cyril and Methodius Day is a holiday commemorating the arrival of the Slavic evangelists Cyril and Methodius in the Czech lands. It is celebrated on July 5 to honor their contribution to the spread of Christianity and the development of the Slavic alphabet. 

Saints Cyril and Methodius were brothers from present-day Thessaloniki who were sent by the Byzantine emperor to spread Christianity among the Slavic people. They created the Glagolitic alphabet, which is the basis for the modern Cyrillic alphabet. They are considered the patron saints of Europe.

Jan Hus Day in Czechia commemorates the death of Jan Hus, a Czech religious reformer and theologian. He advocated for church reform and criticized the corruption and wealth of the Catholic Church. He also believed in the importance of the Bible being accessible to everyone, not just the clergy. 

Hus was eventually excommunicated and burned at the stake for his beliefs, but his ideas sparked the Hussite movement and influenced the Protestant Reformation.