Czech president attends annual pilgrimage to top of country’s highest mountain

Czech President Václav Klaus took part in the annual pilgrimage to the top of the Czech Republic’s highest peak, Sněžka, on Monday. Each year, thousands of Czechs climb to the top of Sněžka, some 1602 metres above sea-level, to honour St. Lawrence. A mass was said on Monday afternoon outside the St. Lawrence chapel on the peak of the mountain. St Lawrence is the patron saint of the Krkonoše mountains, to which Sněžka belongs, he is also the patron saint of brewers. Hundreds of Poles also attended the mass on Sněžka’s peak, as the mountain lies on the Czech-Polish border.