On the right high bank of the Czech capital, Prague Castle rises above the Vltava. Once it was a defensive fortified city, the castle of the first princes, and then the kings. Here Prague was born, which has become the capital of the Czech state since the 10th century. The soul of Prague Castle is St. Vitus Cathedral. The spire of this magnificent temple, like a guard, rises above the historic areas of the city, the tiled roofs of houses, the promenade and bridges. The complex is considered one of the most beautiful cathedrals in Europe, the most significant religious center in the country, an object of love and pride of citizens.
general description
St. Vitus Cathedral has a very long history of construction. The temple did not immediately acquire its modern form; it took six centuries to complete this, from 1344 to 1929. The construction was a project of Gothic architecture, but over the centuries the imprints of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque have been deposited on its decoration and general configuration. In different parts of the building you can also notice elements of neo-Gothic, classicism and even modernism. But the overall architectural style is characterized as Gothic and Neo-Gothic.
Now in the Cathedral of St. Vitus (address: Prague 1-Hradcany, III. Nádvoří 48/2, 119 01) is the chair of the Archbishop of Prague. From the tenth century, the building was the residence of the bishops of the Prague diocese, and from 1344 it was elevated to the level of an archbishopric. On this occasion, the construction of a three-nave Gothic cathedral with three towers began. Despite all the efforts of a century, construction with all the changes and additions was not completed until 1929, when work on the western nave, two towers of the central facade and many decorative elements: sculptures and openwork rose windows made of sandstone, stained glass, and other details were completed.
Some parts of the cathedral are outstanding works of art from different centuries, including the period of final work. For example, the mosaic of the Last Judgment, the chapel of St. Wenceslas, the gallery of portraits on the triforium, the stained glass window of Alfons Mucha and others.
Base and first construction
The beginning of the history of St. Vitus Cathedral should be considered the year 929. In that year, Prince Wenceslas founded the first church on the site of the future church. She became the third Christian temple of the city. The church was erected on the dais of an acropolis in the fortified settlement of Prague and is dedicated to Saint Vitus, an Italian saint, some of whose relics (hand) were received by Prince Wenceslas from the Duke of Saxony Henry I Ptitselov. This first church was a rotunda, apparently with only one apse.
After the death of Wenceslas, his remains were transferred to the church of St. Vita at the end of construction, and, in fact, the prince became the first saint buried in it. In 973, the temple received the status of the main church of the principality of the newly created Prague bishopric. After the expedition (1038) of Bretislaw I to the Polish city of Gniezno, the prince brought particles of the relics of John the Baptist into the rotunda, which made up a trio of saints, consecrated and who have been in the church since then.
The original rotunda, supplemented by the southern and northern apses, was demolished due to unsatisfactory size and replaced after 1061 with a basilica. However, small fragments survived under the chapel of St. Wenceslas, indicating the original location of the tomb of the founder of the church.
The construction of the basilica
The son of Bretislav I and his heir Prince Spytignev II instead of a small rotunda built a much more representative Romanesque basilica of St. Vitus, Wojtech and Virgin Mary. According to the chronicler Cosmas, the construction was started on the feast of St. Wenceslas. Since 1060, on the site of the rotunda, a three-nave basilica with two towers was erected, which became the new dominant of Prague Castle. It was, in fact, a huge superstructure over the holy graves.
Soon after the start of construction, Prince Spytigniew II died, and the construction was continued by his son Vratislav II, who became the first Czech king. He himself drew up the design and layout of the building. Construction was completed in 1096. In horizontal terms, the basilica was a cross 70 meters long and 35 meters wide. The building had two towers, its thick walls and columns divided the dark space into three naves with a pair of choirs on the eastern and western sides, and a transverse nave at the western end. The projection of the basilica can be clearly seen in the underground of the southern part of today's cathedral, where richly decorated columns of western and eastern crypts, fragments of masonry, paving and supporting pillars are preserved.
The beginning of the construction of the cathedral
On April 30, 1344, Prague was transferred to the archbishopric, and six days later, the papal mace was transferred to the archbishop of Prague, Arnost Pardubicki, along with the right to crown the kings of the Czech Republic. And six months later, on November 21, the tenth Czech king John of Luxembourg, in honor of this event, laid the foundation stone of the new cathedral - St. Vitus.
The main architect was 55-year-old Mathias Arrassky. Construction began on the east side, where the altar is located so that it can serve the Mass as soon as possible. Matthias designed the building according to the French Gothic canons. He managed to build a horseshoe-shaped choir with eight chapels, vaults, the eastern part of a long choir with one chapel in the north and two on the south side, an arcade and gallery. Construction began on the south side of the building, including the wall around the perimeter of the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which was initially located separately from the structure of the cathedral. Everything was created simple and ascetic.
In 1352, Matthias died, and from 1356, Peter Parler from Swabia managed the construction. He came from a well-known German family of builders and at the age of 23 came to Prague. In St. Vitus Cathedral, Parler used an unusual mesh vault supported by ribs that connected into beautiful geometric shapes and became an independent decoration of the ceiling.
Chapel of St. Wenceslas
Of the crown of chapels, the chapel of St. Wenceslas is the most important in the cathedral. This is a separate sanctuary built over the burial place of the founder of the church, ranked as a saint. The chapel was immediately planned as a repository of royal jewels and one of the points of the coronation ceremony. A small, almost cubic-shaped room, built into the walls of the church, was designed before Parler. The architect created a vault unknown to architects in the sanctuary, the interlacing of the ribs of which resembled the outlines of stars. The retaining structures shifted from the corners of the room to the third wall, which was unusual compared to traditional arches. In addition to the chapel, Parler built a southern entrance hall in 1368, and a secret chamber was built on its floor, in which the crown and Czech royal jewels were stored. The chapel of St. Wenceslas was consecrated in 1367 and decorated in 1373.
Further construction
In the construction of the cathedral, Parler also worked on the Charles Bridge and several metropolitan churches. In 1385 the choir was completed. After the death of Charles IV (1378), Parler continued to work. When he died (1399), the tower installed by him remained unfinished, only the choir and part of the transept of the cathedral were completed. The work of the architect was continued by his sons - Wenzel and Jan, and they, in turn, were replaced by Master Petrilk. They finished the main tower, erecting it to a height of 55 meters, and the southern part of the church. But twenty years after the death of the great king, the followers' interest in the building died away, and the cathedral remained unfinished for another five hundred years.
During the reign of Tsar Vladislav II Jagiellonian (1471–1490), the late Gothic royal chapel of the architect Benedict Reit was built, and the cathedral was connected to the Old Royal Palace. After the great fire of 1541, many buildings were destroyed, and part of the cathedral was damaged. During the next repair of 1556-1561. the unfinished cathedral gained renaissance elements, and from 1770 the baroque dome of the bell tower appeared.
Completion of construction
Under the influence of romanticism and in connection with the economic growth of the Czech Republic, it was decided to resume construction. The project of 1844 for the reconstruction of the cathedral was presented by architects Wortslav Pesina and Joseph Kranner, the latter led the work until 1866. He was replaced until 1873 by Joseph Motzker. The interior was restored, baroque elements were dismantled, the western facade was constructed in the late Gothic style. It was possible to achieve a harmonious compositional unity of the entire building. The last architect was Camille Hilbert, who worked until the final work of 1929.
Cathedral Interior
Inside, the walls of the main nave are vertically divided by triforia (a gallery of narrow openings). On the pillars of the choir there are 21 busts of bishops, monarchs, queens and masters Peter Parler. Behind the main altar are the tombs of the first Czech bishops and the statue of Cardinal Schwarzenberg by Myslbek.
The southern gallery contains the monumental silver tombstone of 1736, established by St. John of Nepomuk according to the design of E. Fischer. On two sides of the high choir are two large Baroque statues depicting the ruin of the temple in 1619 and the escape of the Winter King (1620). In the middle of the nave is the Renaissance mausoleum of Maxmilian II and Ferdinand I with his wife Anna, the work of Alexander Collin of 1589. On the sides of the mausoleum are depicted persons who are buried beneath it.
Destroyed during the Prussian bombardment (1757), the Renaissance organ in St. Vitus Cathedral was replaced by an instrument of the Baroque period.
Storage and Mausoleum
In addition to the center of religious worship, the temple serves as the treasury of the jewels of the Czech crown and the royal tomb.
One of the many attractions of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague is the coronation insignia. Here once crowned, enthroning, Czech kings. The royal regalia is kept in the temple, the originals of which are exhibited every five years in honor of the inauguration of the Czech President. The exception was 2016, when the city celebrated the 700th birthday of the great Czech king Charles IV. These are the precious symbols of royal power: the crown and sword of St. Wenceslas, the royal scepter and power, the coronation cross. All these items are made of gold with abundant pearls and large gemstones.
Future sovereigns were baptized in the St. Vitus Cathedral, crowned, crowned, and their remains were buried here. The sarcophagi of some princes and monarchs are located in church premises, but most rulers found eternal rest in the cave of the temple, where the Royal tomb with tombs is located. In total, there are the remains of five Czech princes, including the founder of the church of St. Vitus, as well as 22 kings and queens. The temple became the last earthly shelter for many clerics.
Appearance
Now the total width of the cathedral reaches 60 m, and the length along the central nave is 124 m. The large St. Svitovka tower on the south side of the building rises to a level of 96.6 m and is the third tallest church tower in the Czech Republic. The first floor is occupied by the Hazmburk chapel, above which is the bell tower and tower clock. To a height of 55 m, the tetrahedral structure is made according to the Gothic model. The upper octagonal part with galleries reflects the architecture of the late Renaissance with baroque domes. Here, near the tower, is the southern entrance: the Golden Gate of the Svyatoslav Wenceslas Chapel with the famous mosaic “The Last Judgment”.
The forms of the rich support system and the crowns of the chapels on the north side of St. Vitus Cathedral are a fine example of French Gothic. The late Gothic period includes spiral staircases in the corners of both transverse naves.
The western part of the nave and the facade with two towers were erected between 1873 and 1929. This part of the church is fully consistent with the neo-Gothic trend. While working on St. Vitus Cathedral, many famous Czech sculptors and artists participated in decorating its western part: Frantisek Hergesel, Max Schwabinsky, Alfons Mucha, Jan Kastner, Yosef Kalvoda, Karel Svolinsky, Vojtech Sukharda, Antonin Zapototsky and others.
Bells
In the bell tower above the Hazemburk chapel, seven bells are placed on two floors. They say that their ringing is the voice of Prague. From St. Vitus Cathedral, chimes ring out around the city every Sunday before the morning mass and at noon.
The largest in the whole Czech Republic, and not only in the capital, is the Zikmund bell, named after the country's patron saint. This giant with a lower diameter of 256 cm and a total height of 241 cm reaches a weight of 13.5 tons. To rock such a colossus, the efforts of four ringers and a couple of assistants are required. “Zikmund” only sounds on days of major holidays and in special occasions (the funeral of the president, the arrival of the pope and others). The bell was cast in 1549 by master Tomasz Jarosz on the orders of King Ferdinand I.
The floor above is the rest of the bells.
The Wenceslas bell of 1542 was cast by the masters Ondrezhem and Matyas Prague. Height - 142 cm, weight - 4500 kg.
The bell of John the Baptist in 1546 from the bell master Stanislav. Height - 128 cm, weight - 3500 kg.
Bell "Joseph" by Martin Nilger. Height - 62 cm.
Three new bells of 2012 from the Ditrychov’s workshop from Brodka replaced the old bells with the same names that were removed during the war years from 1916:
- "Dominic" - a bell calling for mass, 93 cm high.
- Bell "Mary" or "Marie".
- Jesus is the smallest bell 33 cm high.
Legends of bells
There are many legends about the bells of St. Vitus Cathedral.
When the great Czech Caesar Charles IV died (1378), the bell on the tower of the cathedral began to ring on its own. Gradually, all the bells of the Czech Republic joined him. Hearing the ringing, the dying king exclaimed: “My children, this is the Lord God calling me, may he be with you forever!”
After the fire of 1541, the Hazemburk chapel was not used for its intended purpose for a long time and served as the storeroom ringer. Once a drunken bell ringer fell asleep there, but at midnight he was awakened by a ghost who drove the booze away from the church. In the morning of this ringer they saw a gray-haired man.
The newly cast Zikmund bell was brought to the castle by 16 pairs of horses chained to a cart specially made for this purpose. But no one knew how to drag him to the bell tower, and besides, not a single rope could withstand such a heavy load. And the bell stood for a long time. The country was then ruled by Ferdinand I (1503-1564). His eldest daughter Anna (1528-1590) proposed the construction of a strange machine, with the help of which the Zikmund was raised to the tower belfry. The durable rope was woven from the braids of Prague girls, including the princess herself. When scientists wanted to consider the mechanism, Anna ordered them to disperse and break the device.
During the Christian reforms during the reign of Frederick Falk (1596-1632), the cathedral was at the disposal of the Calvinists. Their representatives wanted to ring the St. Bells on Good Friday, which is unacceptable for Catholics. However, the bells were so heavy that it was impossible to swing them. The administrator of the cathedral was angry and locked the tower so that no one could ring even on Holy Saturday, but the bells rang themselves at the scheduled time (from the late Middle Ages until the 20th century reform, the Catholic Easter vigil was performed on Saturday afternoon).
Svyatovitovsky bells can change their timbre in accordance with the mood of the Czech nation. After the battle of White Mountain, their ringing seemed so sad that, it is said, repose Czech saints woke up in the crypts of the cathedral.
It is believed that no one can remove the bells from the tower. Anyone who tries will die, and the bells loaded in the cart will become so heavy that the cart will not budge. But the locals are sure: even if this were possible, the bells would return to their place themselves.
The last of the legends belongs to our millennium. There is a legend: if a bell bursts, then the city where it is located is in danger. The largest floods occurred in Prague and most of the Czech Republic in 2002. Two months before the accident, the language of Sikmund cracked - the bell, which was named after the patron saint of the whole Czech Kingdom.
Opening hours and transport
Prague Castle - pedestrian area. How to get to St. Vitus Cathedral? There are two ways to do this:
- The 22nd tram will take you to the Pražský Hrad stop, from where you will have 300 meters to go to the gates of Prague Castle;
- from the metro station Malostranská you should climb 400 meters along the old castle castle.
You can get to the cathedral daily from nine in the morning until five in the evening. Only on Sundays the temple opens from noon. The south tower is open from ten in the morning until six in the evening.