St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle
St. Vitus’s Cathedral is the largest and the most important church in Prague! St. Vitus Cathedral also oversaw the coronations of Czech kings and queens. The first stone was laid in the year 1344 in the reign of Charles IV (favourite Czech King and famous Roman Emperor. The outside of the Cathedral initially captivates us by the richness of its Gothic buttressing and decoration.
Western part of St Vitus Cathedral is the official main entrance to the cathedral. This part of the cathedral is the newest, it was built at the turn of the 19th and the 20th century. Offers two tall towers and the Rose Window.
At the south side we stop in front of the Zlata Brana, facing an arcaded portico supporting a treasure chamber for the Crown Jewels, of which we can observe two little windows above the side arches of the arcade. The most precious is of course the mosaic on the facade of the Golden Gate.
Its bronze door is decorated with reliefs with scenes from the history of the cathedral and from the legends about St. Wenceslas and St. Adalbert.
Its first builders, Matthias of Arras and later Peter Parler, built the chancel with a ring of chapels, St. Wenceslas Chapel, the Golden Portal and the lower part of the main steeple.In the year 1060, as the bishopric of Prague was founded, prince Spythinev II embarked on building a more spacious church, as it became clear the existing rotunda was too small to accommodate the faithful.
The present day Gothic Cathedral was founded on 21st of November, 1344, when the Prague bishopric was raised to an archbishopric.
