St. Vitus Cathedral in the Czech Republic, Prague spa
Rating: 7,9/10 (8632 votes)  St. Vitus Cathedral is a Gothic Catholic cathedral located in Prague Castle and is the seat of the Archbishop of Prague. Today, the cathedral houses the repository of coronation regalia and the tomb of the kings of Bohemia. The construction of St. Vitus Cathedral began in November 1344. The patrons of the cathedral were Charles the Fourth and Archbishop Ernest from the city of Pardubice. Initially, the cathedral was supposed to serve for the Premyslid family as a burial place and a coronation church. The first architect of the building was Matthias from Arras, who was specially invited to Prague. Matthias drew up a general plan for the structure of the cathedral in the French Gothic style. However, the architect survived only until the construction of the gallery and arcades was completed. Matthias was replaced by the architect Peter Parler, who came from the town of Schwabisch Gmund. Initially, the architect adhered to Mattios' plan – the chapel was built on the south side, the sacristy – on the north. At the end of the plan drawn up by Matthios, the young architect introduced several of his ideas. His innovative ideas and courage were able to bring new elements to the building. An excellent example is the vault he designed, which is a double diagonal beams. While working on the cathedral, the architect also participated in the construction of many churches and Charles Bridge. In 1397, after Peter's death, only part of the transept and the choir were completed in the cathedral. The work on the cathedral was continued by the sons of Peter – Johans and Wenzel, who were later replaced by Master Petrilk. They managed to finish the southern part and the tower. During the Hussite wars, the construction of the cathedral was suspended. During the war, many paintings, sculptures and icons were damaged. A century later, the construction of the cathedral was only half completed. In the 15th century, King Vladislav Jagellon commissioned Benedict Reith to complete the construction of the cathedral, but the process was almost immediately stopped due to lack of funds. Later attempts to complete the cathedral introduced baroque elements into the architectural ensemble . The program for the final construction of the cathedral was drawn up by the architect Josef Kranner. In 1861-1866, the architect was engaged in renovation work and completely excluded baroque elements from the architecture, as well as restored the interior. In 1873, Josef Mocker replaced Kranner, who completed the reconstruction. According to his plan, the western side was constructed in the Gothic style. The last architect of the cathedral was Camille Gilbert. In the first half of the 20th century, in the northern part of the nave by sculptor Wojtek Suchard and modernist painter Alphonse Mucha. The construction of the cathedral was completed in 1929.  We also recommend reading Vysehrad cemetery in the Czech Republic, Prague spa Topic: St. Vitus Cathedral in the Czech Republic, Prague spa. |
