St. Vitus Cathedral (Prague, Czech Republic): description, history, opening hours, how to get

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

On the right high bank of the Czech capital, Prague Castle rises above the Vltava. Once it was a defensive city-fortress, the castle of the first princes, and then kings. Prague was born here, which became 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 rises like a guardian over the historic districts of the city, the tiled roofs of houses, the embankment 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 for the citizens.

General Description

St. Vitus Cathedral has a very long history of construction. The temple did not acquire its modern form immediately, it took six centuries - from 1344 to 1929. The building was a project of Gothic architecture, but over the centuries, its decoration and general configuration were imprintederas of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque. In different parts of the building, you can also notice elements of neo-gothic, classicism and even modern. But the general 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 archdiocese. On this occasion, the construction of a three-aisled Gothic cathedral with three towers began. Despite all the centuries-old efforts, construction with all changes and additions was completed only by 1929, when work was completed on the western nave, the two towers of the central facade and many decorative elements: sculptures and openwork sandstone rose window decoration, stained-glass windows, and other details.

Some parts of the cathedral are outstanding works of art from different centuries, including the period of final works. 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 Alphonse Mucha and others.

Foundation and first building

The beginning of the history of St. Vitus Cathedral should be considered the year 929. In that year, Prince Vaclav founded the first church on the site of the future church. It became the third Christian church in the city. The church was erected on the elevation of the acropolis in the fortified village of Prague and is dedicated to St. Vitus, an Italian saint, part of whose relics (hand) Prince Wenceslas received from the Duke of Saxony Henry IPtitselov. 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. Vitus 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 Bretislav I to the Polish city of Gniezno, the prince brought to the rotunda particles of the relics of John the Baptist, which made up a trio of saints who were consecrated and have been in the church since then.

The original rotunda, supplemented by south and north apses, was demolished due to unsatisfactory size and replaced after 1061 by a basilica. However, small fragments have been preserved under the chapel of St. Wenceslas, indicating the original location of the tomb of the founder of the church.

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, Vojtech and Virgin Mary. According to the chronicler Cosmas, construction began on the feast of St. Wenceslas. Since 1060, a three-aisled basilica with two towers was erected on the site of the rotunda, which became the new dominant of Prague Castle. It was, in fact, a huge superstructure over the holy graves.

Shortly after the start of construction, Prince Spytignev II died, and the construction was continued by his son Vratislav II, who became the first Czech king. He himself designed the project and the location 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 east and west sides, and a transverse nave at the west end. The projection of the basilica can be clearly seen in the underground of the southern part of today's cathedral, where the richly decorated columns of the western and eastern crypts, fragments of masonry, paving and supporting pillars have been preserved.

Begin 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 Pardubice, along with the right to crown the kings of Bohemia. And six months later, on November 21, the tenth Czech king John of Luxembourg, in honor of this event, laid the foundation stone of a new cathedral - St. Vitus.

The 55-year-old Matthias of Arras became the chief architect. Construction began on the east side, where the altar is located, so that it could celebrate 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 the long choir with one chapel in the north and two on the south side, arcades and galleries. Construction began on the south side of the building, including the wall around the perimeter of the Chapel of the Holy Cross, which at first was located separately from the structure of the cathedral. Everything was created simple and ascetic.

BIn 1352, Matthias died, and from 1356 Peter Parler from Swabia managed the construction. He came from a well-known German family of builders and arrived in Prague at the age of 23. In St. Vitus Cathedral, Parler used an unusual mesh vault, supported by ribs, which connected into beautiful geometric shapes and became an independent decoration of the ceiling.

St. Wenceslas Chapel

Of the entire 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, canonized. The chapel was immediately planned as a repository of royal jewels and one of the points of the coronation ceremony. A small, almost cubic building, built into the walls of the church, was designed before Parler. The architect created in the sanctuary a vault previously unknown to architects, the interlacing of the edges of which resembled the outlines of stars. The retaining structures moved from the corners of the room to the third wall, which was unusual compared to traditional vaults. In addition to the chapel, Parler built the southern entrance hall in 1368, and a secret chamber was arranged on its floor, in which the crown and Czech royal jewels were kept. The Chapel of St. Wenceslas was consecrated in 1367 and decorated in 1373.

Further construction

While building the cathedral, Parler also worked on the Charles Bridge and several churches in the capital. In 1385 the choir was completed. After the death of Charles IV (1378), Parler continued to work. When he died (1399),the tower he installed 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 - Venzel and Jan, and they, in turn, were replaced by Master Petrilk. They completed the main tower, raising 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 interest of followers in the construction faded away, and the cathedral remained unfinished for another five hundred years.

During the reign of Tsar Vladislav II of Jagiellonian (1471–1490), a late Gothic royal chapel by architect Benedikt Reith 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 1556-1561. the unfinished cathedral acquired elements of the Renaissance, and from 1770 a 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 Vortslav Pesina and Josef Kranner, the latter supervising the work until 1866. He was succeeded until 1873 by Josef Motzker. The interior was restored, baroque elements were dismantled, and 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 completion of work in 1929.

Cathedral interior

Inside the walls of the main nave are vertically divided by triforia (gallery ofnarrow openings). There are 21 busts of bishops, monarchs, queens and masters of Peter Parler on the choir pillars. Behind the main altar are the tombs of the first Czech bishops and a statue of Cardinal Schwarzenberg by Myslbek.

The southern gallery contains a monumental silver tombstone of 1736, erected to St. John of Nepomuk according to the design of E. Fischer. On both sides of the high choir are two large baroque statues depicting the destruction 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, made by Alexander Collin in 1589. On the sides of the mausoleum are depicted persons who are buried under it.

Destroyed during the Prussian bombardment (1757), the Renaissance organ in St. Vitus Cathedral has been replaced with a Baroque instrument.

Vault and Mausoleum

Besides being a center of religious worship, the temple serves as a treasury of the Bohemian Crown Jewels and a royal tomb.

One of the many attractions of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague is the coronation insignia. Here once crowned, raising to the throne, Czech kings. The temple houses the royal regalia, the originals of which are put on display every five years in honor of the inauguration of the President of the Czech Republic. 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 orb, the coronation cross. All theseitems are made of gold with abundant pearls and large precious stones.

In St. Vitus Cathedral, future sovereigns were baptized, married, crowned, and their remains were buried here. The sarcophagi of some princes and monarchs are located in church premises, but most of the rulers found eternal rest in the dungeon 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 St. Vitus Church, as well as 22 kings and queens. The temple became the last earthly shelter for many clergy.

Appearance

Now the overall width of the cathedral reaches 60 m, and the length along the central nave is 124 m. The first floor is occupied by the Hazmburk chapel, above which there is a bell tower and a clock tower. Up to a height of 55 m, the tetrahedral structure is made according to the Gothic model. The upper octagonal part with galleries reflects late Renaissance architecture with baroque domes. Here, near the tower, is the southern entrance: the Golden Gate of the St. Wenceslas Chapel with the famous mosaic "Last Judgment".

The forms of the rich supporting system and the crowns of the chapels of the north side of St. Vitus Cathedral are a fine example of French Gothic. The spiral staircases at the corners of both transverse naves are from the Late Gothic period.

The western part of the nave and the facade with two towers were erectedbetween 1873 and 1929. This part of the church is fully consistent with the neo-Gothic direction. While working on the St. Vitus Cathedral, many famous sculptors and artists of the Czech Republic took part in decorating its western part: Frantisek Hergesel, Max Shvabinsky, Alfons Mucha, Jan Kastner, Josef Kalvoda, Karel Svolinsky, Vojtech Suharda, Antonin Zapototsky and others.

Bells

There are seven bells on two floors in the belfry above the Hasemburk chapel. They say that their ringing is the voice of Prague. From St. Vitus Cathedral, the chime chimes throughout the city every Sunday before morning mass and at noon.

The largest in the entire Czech Republic, and not just 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 swing such a colossus, the efforts of four bell ringers and a couple more assistants are required. "Zikmund" sounds only on major holidays and on special occasions (the funeral of the president, the arrival of the Pope, and others). The bell was cast in 1549 by master Tomas Jarosh by order of King Ferdinand I.

The rest of the bells are on the floor above.

The Wenceslas bell of 1542 was cast by masters Ondrez and Matyas of Prague. Height - 142 cm, weight - 4500 kg.

The bell of John the Baptist 1546 from the master bell maker Stanislav. Height - 128 cm, weight - 3500 kg.

Bell "Joseph"the work of Martin Nilger. Height - 62 cm.

Three new bells from 2012 from the Ditrychov workshop from Brodka replaced the old bells with the same names that were removed during the war years from 1916:

• "Dominic" - the bell calling to mass, 93 cm high.
• Bell "Maria" or "Marie".
• "Jesus" is the smallest bell 33 cm high.

Legends of the bells

There are many legends about the bells of St. Vitus Cathedral.

When the great Czech Caesar Charles IV was dying (1378), the bell on the tower of the cathedral began to ring by itself. Gradually, all the bells of the Czech Republic joined him. Hearing the ringing, the dying king exclaimed: “My children, it is the Lord God calling me, may he be with you forever!”

Hazemburk chapel after the fire of 1541 was not used for its intended purpose for a long time and served as a pantry for the bell ringers. Somehow, a tipsy ringer fell asleep there, but at midnight he was awakened by a ghost who drove the drunkard away from the church. In the morning this bell ringer was seen gray-haired.

The newly cast Zikmund bell was dragged to the castle by 16 pairs of horses chained to a cart specially made for this purpose. But how to drag him to the bell tower, no one knew, in addition, not a single rope could withstand such a weight. So the bell stood for a long time. Ferdinand I (1503-1564) then ruled the country. His eldest daughter Anna (1528-1590) offered to build a strange machine, with the help of which the "Zikmund" was raised to the tower bell tower. Lastingthe rope was woven from the braids of Prague girls, including the princess herself. When the scientists wanted to examine 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. Vitus bells on Good Friday, which is unacceptable for Catholics. However, the bells were so heavy that they could not be shaken. The administrator of the cathedral got angry and locked the tower so that no one could ring even on Holy Saturday, but the bells rang themselves at the appointed time (from the time of the late Middle Ages until the reform of the 20th century, the Catholic Easter Vigil was held on Saturday afternoon).

St. Vitovitov's bells can change their timbre in accordance with the mood of the Czech nation. After the Battle of Belaya Gora, their ringing sounded so sad that, they say, the deceased 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 into the cart will become so heavy that the cart will not budge. But the locals are sure that even if this were possible, the bells would return to their place on their own.

The last of the legends belongs to our millennium. There is a legend: if the bell cracks, then the city where it is located is in danger. In Prague and most of the Czech Republic in 2002 there was the largest flood. Two months before the misfortune cracked the tongue"Zikmund" - the bell, which was named after the patron saint of the entire Kingdom of Bohemia.

Opening hours and transportation

Prague Castle is a pedestrian zone. How to get to St. Vitus Cathedral? This can be done in two ways:

• Tram 22 will take you to the Pražský Hrad stop, from where it will be 300 meters to the Prague Castle gates;
• from the Malostranská metro station you should climb 400 meters along the old castle stairs.

You can get to the cathedral daily from nine in the morning to 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.