Vyšehrad

Vyšehrad – a rock above the river with a dark silhouette of slender towers, is an inseparable part of the Prague landscape. The tradition of this mysterious place is connected with legends that were written by Alois Jirásek from old chronicles under the title “Old Czech Legends”. Vyšehrad legends explaining and celebrating the origin and beginnings of the Přemyslid state elevated this area to one of the most memorable places of the Czech nation. Vyšehrad was founded as a fortified fortified settlement sometime in the 10th century. The first indisputable evidence of the existence of the Vyšehrad fortified settlement are the Přemyslid denarii of Boleslav II, minted in the local mint in the middle of the 10th century. An important stage was the election of Vratislav II as prince and his choice of the permanent residence of Vyšehrad, the construction of other buildings and especially the chapter, which was directly subordinate to the Pope. The importance of Vyšehrad was raised again only by Charles IV. He rebuilt it into a stone fortress, connected it to the New Town of Prague by walls, built a Gothic royal palace, a chapter church, and a massive gate called Špička. During the Hussite wars, however, the entire royal district was destroyed. From the middle of the 17th century, Vyšehrad was transformed into a Baroque fortress with a military garrison and remained in the hands of the military administration until 1911, when it was handed over to the city and has been preserved practically unchanged (except for the burned-out armoury in the park with Myslbek’s statues) to this day. Even at the beginning of the 21st century, Vyšehrad retains a magical atmosphere and mystery.