Prague Castle

Prague Castle is one of the things the city of Prague is best known for. It is the world's biggest medieval castle and after needing two days to see the whole thing I can understand the incredible ingenuity it must have taken people starting in the 9th century to build.

The looming the black and gold gothic spires of St Vitus Cathedral shooting out from a dome of green make Prague Castle an incredible, eye-catching spectacle. The castle can first be seen just before the Charles Bridge. On our first trip to the castle we decided to cross the Charles Bridge in spite of the thousands of tourists that flock there everyday. I am always a little tempted to get my own unusually colored umbrella to hold up as the tour guides do for their groups to see how many silly cows decide to follow it. I should not make fun though; today I am a tourist.

The Charles Bridge, while agreeably a historic marvel as it was the only connection between the Old Town in Prague and other parts of the area, making Prague an important trade route, it is no longer the only bridge that crosses the river and is therefore now merely a bridge. The statues of saints and patron saints of Prague line the bridge creating a unique contrast between the gothic style of the bridge and the more modern style of most of the statues, built in the 17th and 18th centuries. Local artists, artisans, and musicians also gather on the bridge in order to entertain and enthrall all of us tourists.

Prague Castle sits on a high hill: good for defending, bad for fat tourists. The road that leads to the castle is therefore fairly steep; locals have cleverly lined the roads with quaint, expensive cafes and pubs to lure tired tourists. At what seems to be the top of the hill a switchback appears and we continue to climb further. We found a most strategically placed smoothie cart halfway up the second hill and took advantage of the sudden influx of good citrus.

When we finally arrived at the castle we found we were there just in time to watch the hourly changing of the guard. Large groups of people stop what they are doing and rush towards the guards in order to see three men march through the gate and switch with their buddies and march back. It is impressive that the guards do not even crack a smile as they march towards the group of people marvelling and pointing at them.

After making our way through the first and second courtyards we suddenly found ourselves in the enormous loom shadow of one of the most beautiful, gothic pieces of architecture I have seen here in Prague. The cathedral spires that had tempted us from a distance were every bit as beautiful as I had hoped. I immediately regretted not bringing my SLR camera but tried to compensate by taking too many photos on my little digital camera.

We bought full day tickets to see everything there was to see at Prague Castle. (Advise to everyone visiting the castle in the future: the cathedral is by far the most spectacular part of the castle so rather than buying tickets to see any other part of the castle, I would recommend just going to the cathedral (entrance is free) and purchasing a two hour audio tour). Our full day tickets actually included two days of castle touring which was nice because after only getting to the castle around two in the afternoon we never would have been able to get everything else done in time. Naturally we visited the cathedral first (audio tour-less).

The cathedral from the inside is even more breathtaking than from the outside. You first enter on high vaulted ceilings that seem to go on for miles; stained glass murals beam down from every direction; strategically placed windows high on the cathedral walls let in a heavenly light creating an ethereal air within the cathedral. With so many things to look at it would have been difficult to pay attention in church (although I am sure the cathedral was mainly used for ceremonial purposes). In front of the main St Vitus alter sits a massive white marble crypt filled with members of the royal Bohemian family. A stained glass window depiction of the holy trinity sits in the wall behind the alter. From the entryway you move to the left where the chapels begin. Each stained glass window introduces a new chapel that is sectioned off from the public. Included in the sectioned off portion, each chapel seems to have a doorway to a tomb of some sort. Such things are incredibly tempting to the curious cat, but sadly, there will be no grave exploring for us today.


As we walked around the cathedral, each chapel seemed more beautiful than the last; each stained glass window depicting a more beautiful albeit morbid story than the last. As we masses made our way around the cathedral flashing our photographic approval into every corner reverence slowly blankets the crowd; the sheer beauty of the cathedral invoked feelings of veneration. On one side of the cathedral an enormous chapel is sectioned off--more of a room than the other chapels were. It has only two doorways to peer through. Even before arriving at the room the brilliance of it beems out. The tomb of St Wenceslaus lies within. The wells are coated in paintings depicting the life of the beloved patron saint of the Czech Republic. The tomb lies to the left of the room. To the right is a door that leads to a staircase which goes up into the cathedral. It is the location of the Czech Republic's crown jewels; the world's largest ruby employs itself on the front of the crown. Opening the door requires seven keys which have been given to seven different members of the church. St Wenceslaus was a duke during the 10th century, next in line for the throne. Wenceslaus was then murdered by his younger brother Boleslav while he was on his way to church. Boleslav was not a particularly bad ruler by his fratricide has hung over him for the rest of history. And that is your small history lesson for today.

After nearly two hours in the church we painstakingly dragged ourselves away; we were all a little worse for wear from standing for so long. We decided then that in spite of its expense the audio tour might be well worth having and we trekked on to the Old Royal Palace.