St. Vitus Cathedral – high above the rooftops of Prague

St. Vitus Cathedral is certainly one of the most impressive churches in Prague. St. Vitus Cathedral is located on the grounds of Prague Castle and is the largest church in the Czech Republic.

History of St. Vitus Cathedral

The first church building on the site where St. Vitus Cathedral stands today dates back to the year 925. At this time, a rotunda was built for St. Wnzel. Around 1061, a three-aisled basilica was added to the building.

Charles IV commissioned the construction of St. Vitus Cathedral in its current form in 1344, and the existing parts of the church were partially integrated into the new building. The occasion was the appointment of Prague as an archbishopric.

However, construction was never continuous and there were repeated interruptions. Construction continued until the last third of the 19th century. During this time, many different master builders were involved in the design of the church, each leaving their own signature. You can find elements of Gothic, late Gothic, Renaissance and even neo-Gothic.

For many years, the cathedral was used as the coronation church and burial place of Bohemian rulers. The Bohemian kings moved in a solemn procession along the Royal Way from the Old Town to the cathedral. The coronation regalia are still kept in a special chamber to which only the 7 members of a special council have the key.

Visit to the church

A visit to the castle complex and St. Vitus Cathedral is the main attraction in Prague alongside Charles Bridge. Of course, we also wanted to visit this building during our second stay in Prague in 2015 – with the firm opinion that “we’ve never been there before”. But how can you be wrong, as a subsequent look in the photo album showed when we discovered a picture from 1992. We have now been there a third time and I am still thrilled!

The cathedral was built in the Gothic style. The nave alone is 124 meters long and 60 meters wide. The main tower is 99 meters high.

If you want to visit St. Vitus Cathedral, you should allow some time. It can happen that the queue at the entrance is a little longer. We were in Prague on a Sunday, for example. The cathedral was initially closed for the service and shortly before the scheduled opening there were already several hundred people queuing to be let into the church. We preferred to wait a little longer and about an hour later, after waiting around 20 minutes, we were inside the church.

You enter the cathedral through a side door next to the golden portal, which is located below a beautiful round window. You immediately find yourself in the 124-metre-long nave, which is an impressive 33 meters high.

It is always fascinating to see how the master builders of the time were able to construct buildings that appear wonderfully light and graceful. The choir of the cathedral, for example, is one of the first buildings with a parallel ribbed vault and the vestibule in front of the south transept portal has a particularly artistic vault with free-hanging ribs.

The windows in St. Vitus Cathedral are particularly impressive. These were designed by Mucha and Švabinský and turn the sunlight into an impressive spectacle of color.

The Wenceslas Chapel in St. Vitus Cathedral is the most beautiful chapel. It is dedicated to the patron saint of the Czech Republic and was built directly over the tomb of St. Wenceslas. More than 1300 semi-precious stones decorate the chapel. Frescoes depict biblical scenes and tell of the life of St. Wenceslas.

St. Vitus Cathedral is also the repository of some important relics and is therefore not only visited by tourists, but also by believers from all over the world:

I was still impressed by the tour of St. Vitus Cathedral the third time around. I had the feeling that I was discovering something new every time. I will certainly make a fourth visit, perhaps this time in connection with a mass, so that I can also take in the sound of the organ and the spirituality.

Visitor information

Address

119 08 Prag 1,
Tschechien