Prague Plague columns reassure expats the pandemic will end

If you’re an expat living and working in the Czech Republic and you’re fearing the worst as regards surviving the pandemic, Prague’s Plague columns are a reminder that survival is well possible.

In this ultra-modern world, the thought that a miniscule virus could kill so many people across the world in such a short time is almost unbelievable, but sadly so very true. In the new age of internet, expert research and unparalleled connectivity, what’s happening right now is unprecedented and devastating, given the development of society into a multinational community. However, if you’re an expat living in Prague, the city’s unique Plague columns are a reminder that humans do survive, even although they may learn little from the experience.

The present pandemic is by far not the first to hit the city, with visible traces of previous plagues easily found and seen as a testament to the human race’s ability to survive and thrive. The city’s unique Plague columns were originally surrounded with statues of the angels and saints who protected its citizens from falling prey to the earlier versions of deadly viruses. Erected after the various pandemics had run their course, they still stand as a reminder that humans can endure where viruses can’t.

Wherever in the Czech Republic expats are settled, Plague columns can be found, with the version in the city of Olomouc now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The three largest in Prague date from the early 18th century and commemorate 13,000 victims olf the Black Death, some 25 per cent of the population. Whether protected by divine intervention or whatever, the columns reassure modern day expats as well as locals that epidemics do come to an end and life goes on.

Modern-day expats and Czech citizens may not quite believe that saints, the Blessed Mother and various other historical religious figures helped end the epidemics, but those expats now living and working in the city can be certain that the coronavirus will leave sooner rather than later, as has happened many times in the city’s distant past. Even nowadays, Czech nationals are leaving flowers and other offerings at the feet of the columns, showing their faith that life will return to normal in the future just as it did in the past.