[1] The Olšany Cemeteries were created in 1680 to accommodate plague victims who died en masse in Prague and needed to be buried quickly.

Among the thousands of military personnel buried at Olšany, there are Russian soldiers and officers from the Napoleonic Wars, members of the Czechoslovak Legion, Czechoslovak soldiers, officers and pilots who fought at the Eastern and Western Front and in North Africa during the Second World War as well as male and female members of the Soviet and Commonwealth (including British, Canadian, South African, Greek and Turkish Cypriot and Polish) armed forces who died for the freedom of Czechoslovakia in 1944–1945, including POWs.

Based on a bilateral agreement, Czech authorities are responsible for the protection of Russian and Soviet military graves at the Czech territory (as the Russian Federation is responsible for protecting Czechoslovak war graves from both World Wars in Russia).

[1] There are two ceremonial halls assigned to bid farewell to the deceased; the newer one is located in a building of the Prague's first crematorium.

New to the scene is the "Olšany Cemeteries Learning Trail" which is so far mapping the history of three of the oldest sections, also sketching the life stories of some celebrities buried here.