While visiting the Prague Castle, we spent a good bit of time in the cathedral. St. Vitus is a Gothic church and was started in 1344 and was designed by the same architect as Notre Dame in Paris. You can definitely tell when looking at the back. Unfortunately, this architect died before the church was finished.
As with many other churches in 
Europe, there are many tombs and there is one very decorated one. I believe it is the tomb of a priest who was killed for not telling the king his wife's confession. Later, his tomb was opened and they discovered that his tongue had not disintegrated. The people took this as a divine act and made him a saint. Later, his tongue was analyzed and realized that it was actually his brain!This church also has a stained glass window designed by the Czech artist, Alphonse Mucha, who started the art nouveau movement. There was also another important relic in the church but I don't recall its history. Maybe John will edit this post or put it in the comments.
After wandering around the church, we saw a place that you could climb up. There was a sign saying that it was about 200 steps but I thought I was going up to the second level of the church (I had seen people up there). Nope, there really was a lot of steps and we were in a tower to the top of the church. Once we got to the top, we were rewarded with amazing views of the city.
2 comments:
Haven't visited your blog in a while, thanks much for all the pics. I love your Rock of Cashel pic. My wife and I loved visiting Cashel, we stayed in a farmhouse in a town nearby. Prague pic are really fun too. Makes me want to check out the Christmas markets some day.
The cathedral of St Vitus (SS Wenceslas and Adalbert) is the principal church of the Czech lands, their most important spiritual center and the seat of the Prague archbishop. Five saints are buried here, along with many Czech princes, kings, archbishops and other prominent figures. The cathedral’s treasuries contain a great number of precious holy relics and numerous other objects of inestimable value. The latter are dominated by the St Wenceslas crown, the supreme symbol of the sovereign power of Czech kings. his sacred place is well worth a visit, also since it is the most significant cultural monument in the country, the culmination of Gothic architecture.The whole castle complex is a major tourist attraction and it is good to get there early especially to view the interior of the Cathedral. It becomes more a house one must visit than a religious house. Different tour guides from Prague hotels excursions to school excursions are everywhere and there is little evidence of peace and calm inside the Cathedral. By early I suggest start at 9.00am when the complex is opened to the public.
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