Subway: Hradcanska, Malostranska
Open: Nov- Mar: 9am- 4pm Mon- Sat, 12pm- 4pm Sun
Apr- Oct: 9am- 6pm Mon- Sat, 12pm- 6pm Sun
Service: Mass 7am Mon- Sat, 8am, 9:30am, 11am Sun
Vitus Cathedral (also St. Vitus Cathedral, Czech Katedrála sv. Víta or Chrám sv. Víta, full name Katedrála svatého Víta, Václava a Vojtěcha) at Prague Castle is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Prague and the largest church building in the Czech Republic. It was built under Crown Prince Charles, later Charles IV, from 1344, first by the French architect Matthias von Arras and then primarily by the German master builder Peter Parler, based on the model of the French royal cathedrals. The Czech kings marched in a solemn procession along the Royal Route from Prague's Old Town to the cathedral, which served as the coronation church. In addition to the tombs of the Czech rulers, the cathedral also contains the coronation insignia, which are kept in the crown chamber. The Cathedral is part of the World Heritage Historical Center of Prague.
The construction of the current building (after the rotunda and the
basilica already the third building on this site, at the same time the
first cathedral - according to the time a Gothic one) began on November
21, 1344 by order of Charles IV, when Prague was closed by the Bull of
Pope Clement VI. April 30, 1344 was raised to the archbishopric. The
construction of that time ended at the place where the transept is today
- the rest of today's construction, i. H. from the transept to today's
main entrance, was only built in the 19th and 20th centuries. However,
the history of the building dates back to the 10th century on the one
hand, and on the other hand there was a break in construction for
several hundred years until the last third of the 19th century. The
construction took place instead of a 925 under the hl. Wenceslas erected
rotunda and under Spytihněv II started three-aisled Romanesque basilica
(from 1060). However, Spytihnev died as early as 1061; the actual
builder of the new church was his brother and successor Vratislav II.
The double-choired basilica was much smaller than the current building.
Parts of the rotunda with the tombs of the saints were integrated into
the new building, such as the southern apse with the Wenceslas tomb.
At the beginning, the French master builder Matthias von Arras
managed the new Gothic building. After his death in 1352, Peter Parler,
who came from Schwäbisch Gmünd, and in the last quarter of the 14th
century his sons Wenzel Parler and Johann Parler the Younger continued
the work. By the beginning of the Hussite wars in 1420, the chancel and
the base of the main tower had been completed. Due to the ever slower
construction, only the second and third floors were built in the late
Gothic style. The top of the tower was created by Bonifaz Wohlmut and
Hans Tirol between 1560 and 1562 and modified in the 18th century in the
Renaissance style, but remained unfinished. In the age of the
Reformation, the cathedral was a significant interface of denominations.
For a time it served as a parish church for the Calvinists. A large part
of the valuable Gothic furnishings of the cathedral, such as numerous
statues of saints and consecrated altarpieces, were destroyed by the
Protestant iconoclasts.
Václav Michal Pešina (1782–1859), canon
at the cathedral, was the initiator of further construction in the 19th
century. The Prague Cathedral Building Association was founded in 1859
and work began in 1861. The first master builder of this second
construction phase was Joseph Kranner, a representative of neo-Gothic.
In 1873 Josef Mocker was commissioned to complete St. Vitus Cathedral.
Controversially, the neo-Gothic west facade with two towers was built on
his design, which somewhat relativizes the original southern orientation
of the building. The southern main tower facing the city was therefore
no longer continued in its originally planned form. The final completion
of the church after a break in construction in the 15th century lasted
until the completion of construction in 1929 by Mocker's successor,
Kamil Hilbert. On September 29 of this year, the cathedral was
inaugurated on the thousand-year anniversary of the death of St.
Wenceslaus.
A 14-year legal battle between the Czech state and the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic over ownership of the cathedral, expropriated in 1954[4], was ruled in favor of the state by the Supreme Court in January 2007 after a lower court initially awarded it to the church. The Archdiocese of Prague appealed the verdict. The Czech state, represented by President Václav Klaus, and the Catholic Church, represented by Archbishop Dominik Duka of Prague, were able to come to an agreement. The maintenance and use of the cathedral is ensured by state funds, which the church administers. The supervision of St. Vitus Cathedral is delegated to a council of seven personalities (including the President, the Archbishop, the Lord Mayor of Prague and the chairmen of the two chambers of the Czech Parliament), who are also the only ones who each have a key to the chamber with the Bohemian coronation insignia.
The mighty three-nave cathedral was built in the Gothic style. It is
the largest cathedral in the Czech Republic.
Length of the nave: 124
meters
Width transept: 60 meters
Height inside: 33 meters
Height of the main tower: 99 meters
The St. Vitus Cathedral is architecturally and stylistically groundbreaking for the further development of late Gothic. Numerous tracery motifs are found here for the first time and, starting from the builders' hut of St. Vitus Cathedral, spread throughout Europe. In addition, the choir of the cathedral is one of the first buildings with the parallel rib vault, which was used in numerous late Gothic buildings. The vestibule in front of the south transept portal has a particularly artistic vault with freely hanging ribs. In the sacristy of St. Vitus Cathedral there is a vault with a hanging keystone. Other architectural features worth mentioning are the triforium gallery with portrait-like busts of the master builders and clients, as well as the bay window-like, slanted window parts in the clerestory of the choir.
Inside the cathedral there is a very rich furnishing. The most important works by Parler can be found in the Wenceslas Chapel in the southern aisle, lined with semi-precious stones and gilded stucco. The tomb of the Habsburgs, erected by Alexander Colin in the middle of the choir, dates from the 16th century. The most important of the baroque furnishings is the high tomb of St. John of Nepomuk, made in 1733-36 by the silversmith Johann Joseph Würth based on designs by Joseph Emanuel Fischer von Erlach and the model by the sculptor Antonio Corradini. The early baroque pulpit dates from 1618. The neo-Gothic high altar was created under the direction of Kamil Hilbert, who succeeded the master builder Joseph Mocker in 1899, and many contemporary Czech artists contributed to the interior design. The so-called window of the state patrons in the New Archbishop's Chapel (west of the north entrance) was completed in 1931 by the glass artist Jan Veselý based on a design by Alfons Mucha; the two large glass windows "Outpouring of the Holy Spirit" and "The Last Judgment" were designed by Max Švabinský (1934).
Since 1355 the head of St. Vitus has been kept as a relic in St. Vitus Cathedral, as well as the dogs of St. Adalbert, the dogs of St. Wenceslaus, the sword of St. Stephen, a tooth of St. Margaret, part of the shin of St. Vitale, a rib of the Saint Sophie, the jaw of Saint Eoban, a splinter from the cross of Jesus, the tablecloth of Holy Communion, a robe of the Virgin Mary and the staff of Moses.
coronation church
Even before the new cathedral was built under
Emperor Charles IV, St. Vitus Cathedral was the coronation church and
burial place of the Bohemian rulers. The coronation insignia, including
the Wenceslas crown, are kept in the crown chamber of the cathedral, on
the floor above the Wenceslas Chapel and only accessible through it.
Since 1867, the Crown Chamber has been locked by seven locks, the keys
of which are deposited with seven different Prague dignitaries.
Tombs of emperors and kings
In addition to St. John Nepomuk, the
following monarchs and their family members are buried in St. Vitus
Cathedral:
Bořivoj II, Duke of Bohemia (c. 1064 – 2 February
1124)
Ottokar I Přemysl, King of Bohemia (1155 – December 15, 1230)
Ottokar II Přemysl, King of Bohemia (1232 – August 26, 1278)
Rudolf
II, Duke of Austria (1270 – 10 May 1290)
Jutta von Habsburg (March
13, 1271 – June 18, 1296), wife of King Wenceslaus II.
Wenceslaus II,
King of Bohemia (September 17, 1271 – June 21, 1305)
Rudolf I, King
of Bohemia (1282 – July 4, 1307)
Blanca Marguerite of Valois (1317 –
August 1, 1348), wife of Emperor Charles IV.
Emperor Charles IV (May
14, 1316 – November 29, 1378)
Wenceslaus IV, Roman-German King, King
of Bohemia (February 26, 1361 – August 16, 1419)
George Poděbrady,
King of Bohemia (April 6, 1420 – March 22, 1471)
Anne of Bohemia and
Hungary (July 23, 1503 – January 27, 1547), wife of Emperor Ferdinand I
Ladislaus Postumus, King of Bohemia (February 22, 1440 – November 23,
1457)
Emperor Ferdinand I (March 10, 1503 – July 25, 1564)
Emperor
Maximilian II (July 31, 1527 – October 12, 1576)
Archduchess Eleonore
(November 4, 1568 – March 12, 1580), daughter of Emperor Maximilian II
Emperor Rudolf II (July 18, 1552 – January 20, 1612)
Maria Amalia of
Austria (February 26, 1746 – June 18, 1804), wife of Duke Ferdinand II
of Parma
Aisle
In the northern aisle there are two organ cases on the
galleries. The case on the upper gallery belonged to a baroque organ
built in 1765 by Anton Gartner. The instrument had 40 registers on 3
manuals and pedal. In 1909 the organ was removed and lost. The case is
empty today and serves purely as a decoration.
On the gallery
below is a neoclassical organ case, which houses the current cathedral
organ. The instrument was built in the years 1929-31 by the organ
builder Josef Melzel; 1999-2001 the instrument was overhauled by the
organ building company Brachtl a Kánský. The instrument, which is rather
modest in relation to the large church space, has 58 registers (4,475
pipes) on 3 manuals and pedal. The organ work has a large number of
fundamental parts (flutes and principals) and comparatively few reed
parts (8 in all); with this disposition the instrument has a rather soft
tone - a typical characteristic of post-romantic organs. The playing and
register actions are purely pneumatic.
Westwork
In 2017, the
German organ builder Gerhard Grenzing was commissioned to build a new
large cathedral organ. At the end of 2019, the new instrument was
completed in the workshop in El Papiol (Spain), but it has not yet been
installed.
The new organ, weighing over 30 tons, will be placed
on the choir above the west entrance of the cathedral and will allow a
clear view of the large rose window. The modern design of the instrument
comes from the designer Peter Olaf. It will have 110 registers (6500
pipes) on four manuals and pedal.
St. Vitus Cathedral rings seven church bells. The Sigismund bell is the largest bell in the cathedral and also the largest bell in the Czech Republic. To this day, four people ring the bell by hand. The second largest is rung by two and the remaining five bells by one person each. In 2012 the three missing bells were added.