When you think of Prague, you think of a giant castle on top of a hill overlooking the Vltava River with the stunning spires of St. Vitus Cathedral pointing to the heavens. So when David and I made our plans to visit Prague, we knew the Cathedral was on our must see list.
The official name is the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saints, Vitus, Wenceslaus, and Adalbert. It is open daily from 9:00am to 5:00pm April – October and 9:00am-4:00pm November – March. No tours are available Sunday mornings, but you can attend mass and experience Czech culture first hand. The church is a beautiful example of Gothic and Neo-Gothic architecture with flying buttresses that took 600 years to build!
Now, you can walk up that big ol’ hill to access the Prague Castle complex, but we opted to take a tram up and walk down later that evening. You can purchase tram tickets at some hotels, convenience stores or little kiosks along some of the major routes. Tram 22 makes the steep ascent easy, with convenient pick-up near the Charles Bridge.
Once inside the Castle, you will need a ticket. As discussed in the previous post, there are a few ticket options. We purchased the short-tour ticket, which gave us access to Saint Vitus Cathedral, the Old Royal Palace, Saint George’s Basilica and the quaint Golden Lane for 250 Crowns ($12 at the time) per person.
Ceiling of St. Vitus
Actually, access to a portion of the Cathedral is free, but you are restricted to the very back of the church. If you have tickets you are able to explore the full structure. The story behind the tickets is an interesting issue of separation of Church and State. The church is a national treasure for Czechs, and is one of the country’s most beloved pieces of art. The church contains many relics and tombs of Czech kings, national heroes and local saints. Three Habsburg kings are also buried inside. After the fall of communism, the ownership rights of the Cathedral were disputed between the State and the Church, each claiming they were the rightful owners. In 2006, a court ruled in favor of the Church against the popular opinion. Strapped for cash, the Church immediately began charging an entrance fee. This made many Czechs upset. Then in 2008, the courts overturned the earlier decision, returning ownership of the Cathedral to the State, which eliminated the entrance fee. Finally in 2011, an archbishop proposed a compromise of co-ownership between the Church and the State. Now, any person may enter this national landmark for free. However, if you want to pass the rope, you must pay for a ticket to gain access to the chapels and holy relics inside.
There are many reasons to visit the Cathedral, such as the Wenceslas Chapel. Yes that is the same Wenceslas from the Christmas carol, Good King Wenceslas. Wenceslas was considered the Czech’s most enlightened, beloved and honored king. However, the stained glass windows mesmerized me! They were just breathtaking. I have never seen stained glass windows so beautiful. The colors used were so rich and vibrant, that the walls and pews glowed!
Mucha’s Stained Glass Window
By far, the most admired stained glass window features the work of the pioneering Art Nouveau Czech artist, Alfons Mucha. Those who did not pay the church’s entrance fee will barely see this window. We highly recommend paying the entrance fee so you can stand directly in front of this stained glass masterpiece. In general when viewing Mucha’s work, consider that he used colors to convey different ideas. White represents peace, red for war, blue for the past and orange for the future. He used stained glass but also painted on the glass to achieve a wonderfully-different effect. Most stained glass windows in a cathedral focus on biblical themes, but Mucha’s theme traces the history of the Czech people, including religious and historical figures. If you love this window, David shared about Mucha’s nationalistic series of masterpieces, The Slav Epic, in an earlier post.
The crowds will come and go. If you want to look at something in more detail, just wait for the tour groups to pass. Soon you will have a break from the crowds, and then you can devote your full attention to the scene that grabbed your attention.
For one last memory of this great church, stroll through the Castle complex at night. It is beautiful!
View of St. Vitus Cathedral from Strahov Monastary
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