St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague Castle: west facade
The west facade is a cathedral's main entrance and usually the site of instructive and decorative sculptures and relief work recounting biblical stories and their divine correlates in the lives of members of the royalty. The Czech Republic's national shrine, officially titled "The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saints Vitus, Wenceslaus and Adalbert" (metropolitní katedrála svatého Víta, Václava a Vojtěcha). The first church on this site was built in 930 AD by the Duke of Bohemia, Wenceslaus (= Vaclav, a venerable name to the Czechs), who wished to convert his mixed pagan/Christian subjects to Christianity. A second Romanesque church was largely replaced by the building of the present French Gothic cathederal, commencing in 1340 under the orders of Bohemian King John; eventually his son and successor, crowned Charles IV (but born Wenceslaus) the great Charles IV, ultimately Holy Roman Emperor, assumed sponsorship of the new church and directed the development Prague as the new imperial capital. By the 16th century, under the casual and tolerant Catholicism of the Habsburg Emperor, Rudolf II, Prague again served as the imperial capital, but by that time much of Bohemia and Moravia were of Protestant persuasion (due to the influence of the martyred 14th century reformer, John Huss, whose memorial statue dominates the Old Town Square). Under later Habsburgs, Catholicism was rigorously re-established, but the cathedral and castle are today state-properties. Both Charles IV and Rudolf II are buried in the crypt along with two other HR Emperors and numerous Bohemian kings and nobles. A chapel within the Cathedral houses the eponymous relic, the right arm of St. Vitus, a 4th century Christian martyr and the patron saint of dancing. "St. Vitus Dance" is another name for Sydenham's chorea, an occasional accompaniment of juvenile rheumatic fever, characterized by twitching and jerking motions said to resemble the manic activity of medieval dancers at the annual saint's celebration day. (Taken during our May, 2017, tour.)
St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague Castle: west facade
The west facade is a cathedral's main entrance and usually the site of instructive and decorative sculptures and relief work recounting biblical stories and their divine correlates in the lives of members of the royalty. The Czech Republic's national shrine, officially titled "The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saints Vitus, Wenceslaus and Adalbert" (metropolitní katedrála svatého Víta, Václava a Vojtěcha). The first church on this site was built in 930 AD by the Duke of Bohemia, Wenceslaus (= Vaclav, a venerable name to the Czechs), who wished to convert his mixed pagan/Christian subjects to Christianity. A second Romanesque church was largely replaced by the building of the present French Gothic cathederal, commencing in 1340 under the orders of Bohemian King John; eventually his son and successor, crowned Charles IV (but born Wenceslaus) the great Charles IV, ultimately Holy Roman Emperor, assumed sponsorship of the new church and directed the development Prague as the new imperial capital. By the 16th century, under the casual and tolerant Catholicism of the Habsburg Emperor, Rudolf II, Prague again served as the imperial capital, but by that time much of Bohemia and Moravia were of Protestant persuasion (due to the influence of the martyred 14th century reformer, John Huss, whose memorial statue dominates the Old Town Square). Under later Habsburgs, Catholicism was rigorously re-established, but the cathedral and castle are today state-properties. Both Charles IV and Rudolf II are buried in the crypt along with two other HR Emperors and numerous Bohemian kings and nobles. A chapel within the Cathedral houses the eponymous relic, the right arm of St. Vitus, a 4th century Christian martyr and the patron saint of dancing. "St. Vitus Dance" is another name for Sydenham's chorea, an occasional accompaniment of juvenile rheumatic fever, characterized by twitching and jerking motions said to resemble the manic activity of medieval dancers at the annual saint's celebration day. (Taken during our May, 2017, tour.)