- Type
- Fortress
- Visiting
- probably – Wikidata lists it as a museum or gives tickets, opening hours or visitor numbers; check before you go
- Coordinates
- 50.0644°, 14.4176°
History
A stronghold on the rock above the Vltava probably arose in the 10th century, and in the second half of the 11th century Vratislaus II, the first King of Bohemia, made it his seat and founded a chapter at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul. The Rotunda of St Martin, the oldest surviving rotunda in Prague, dates from this period. Charles IV tied Vyšehrad into the fortifications of the New Town, and royal coronation processions set out from here. The Hussites destroyed the castle in 1420, and in the 17th century the Habsburgs turned the hill into a Baroque fortress. In the 19th century Vyšehrad became a symbol of the Czech national revival, and a cemetery for eminent Czechs with the Slavín pantheon was laid out beside the church.
What to see
Baroque gates lead to the neo-Gothic Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul and the cemetery where Antonín Dvořák, Bedřich Smetana, Alphonse Mucha and Karel Čapek are buried. The casemates beneath the walls house some of the original Baroque statues from Charles Bridge. A walk along the ramparts gives views of the Vltava and Prague Castle, and fragments of the so-called Devil's Column lie beside the basilica.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q616334
Popularity: articles about this site in 40 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).