Prague Cathedral
Type:
Churches,
Chapels,
Mosaics,
Sculptures,
Tombs
Date:
1344
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Czech Republic
Description:
The fourteenth-century cathedral of Prague replaced earlier buildings on the site. It was founded in 1344 (when Prague became an archbishopric) by the Bohemian king John of Luxembourg, who devoted a percentage of revenues from the kingdom's silver mines to the project. John engaged the architect Matthias of Arras, who established the French style and layout of the east end. After Matthias's death in 1352, the work progressed under John's son, Charles IV, who hired the German Peter Parler. Parler died in 1399, and while his workshop continued on site for some decades, the cathedral was not completed until the twentieth century. Both architects were buried in the cathedral and memorialized with tomb slabs.
The cathedral was simultaneously a shrine to venerable saints, the site of royal coronations, and the mausoleum of two Bohemian dynasties (Přemyslids and Luxembourgs). Its main ceremonial entrance was through the south transept, known as the Golden Gate. Adjacent to this entrance is the Wenceslas chapel, where Parler's unusual rib vaultingcontrasts with his double diagonal rib vaults (known as net vaults) in the choir. Parler also made sculpture an important component of the interior; buts of Bohemian saints and contemporary figures populate the piers in the zigzagging triforium.
Prague Cathedral was dedicated to Vitus until 1997, when it was rededicated to Vitus, Wenceslas, and Adalbert (or Vojtech), who was a missionary martyred while converting polytheists in the Baltics to Christianity in the tenth century. All three had prominent altars in the medieval cathedral.
The cathedral was simultaneously a shrine to venerable saints, the site of royal coronations, and the mausoleum of two Bohemian dynasties (Přemyslids and Luxembourgs). Its main ceremonial entrance was through the south transept, known as the Golden Gate. Adjacent to this entrance is the Wenceslas chapel, where Parler's unusual rib vaultingcontrasts with his double diagonal rib vaults (known as net vaults) in the choir. Parler also made sculpture an important component of the interior; buts of Bohemian saints and contemporary figures populate the piers in the zigzagging triforium.
Prague Cathedral was dedicated to Vitus until 1997, when it was rededicated to Vitus, Wenceslas, and Adalbert (or Vojtech), who was a missionary martyred while converting polytheists in the Baltics to Christianity in the tenth century. All three had prominent altars in the medieval cathedral.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
10
Repository and Online Resources:
• Take a virtual tour of the Prague Cathedral here.
• Watch a video reenactment of the 1347 coronation of Emperor Charles IV and his wife in Prague Cathedral (Charles personally wrote the manual for the event).
Image Credits:
Wikimedia Commons; Jill Caskey; Navid Jamali
