Prague II: Vysehrad

Vysehrad is an old fort on a hill that began in the 9th century.  It once had a castle and was the seat of the bohemian empire, but it was never the crown jewel of any of the great empires.  It had centuries where it was in favor, and centuries where it wasn't.   The end effect is a very unique space for wandering around.

The location on top of a mountain by the river made Vysehrad a great choice for a castle.  Visiting the site begins by walking through a gate within the massive brick fortifications.  These walls are not ancient by any means, the walls are part of upgrades relating to the time the fort was used for an Austrian army barracks during the 17th century.  

The compound contains another ring of walls within the great brick wall.  This middle area felt like a part of Central Park.

Between the walls.  There is a lot of green space and trees within the fort (hardly any buildings).  Lots of people were walking their dogs through the abandoned tunnels and along the rampart.

According to Wikipedia, this building here, the St. Martin Rotunda, is the oldest building in Prague (11th century):

I'm regretting being too cheap for the historical tour guide...

The present day fort is a product of nationalism during the 19th century when Bohemian rulers renovated the area.  

The grounds leading up to the church reminded me of Golden Eye for some reason (communism + Bond movie).

 

Right on the River

The Church:

The Church of St. Peter and Paul has existed in some form or another since 1070.  Unfortunately, Hussites and others destroyed different versions of it along the way.  The most recent version, the one we see today, is from the renovations brought about by the Bohemians as they beautified Vysehrad.

The current church of St. Peter and Paul was built 1885 to show off Bohemian art and neo-Gothic architectural prowess.

I really enjoyed the church.  In general, Prague was very colorful.  The church was no exception, it had beauful mosaics and paintings on nearly every surface.  It was an unusual style for a Roman Catholic Church (based on my relatively limited experiences).  Also, there were lots of explanations (in English) explaining the history and significance of the relics within the church.  I always find the circumstances and politics of 'which church gets what' very interesting.

 

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Cemetery:

The cemetery of Vysehrad is also historic (and quite colorful).  I don't know anything about Czech politicians, but I did recognize on of the numerous 'starred' graves within the cemetery. It was of Antonín Leopold Dvořák, the composer.







Walking around as I left Vysehrad:

After the day exploring Vysehrad, I headed back to Prague to see the Christmas Market, which officially opened on the same night, as well as other buildings I wanted to see.

Dancing Building

For Dinner I ate "Pig Neck" and roasted potatoes- it was absolutely delicious:

 Prague had insane amounts of graffiti and street art:


While I was in Prague, I actually didn't know it was the opening of the Christmas market.  I was wandering around after dinner, trying to find this famous astronomical clock, when I noticed each street getting more and more crowded.  As I exited a particularly narrow street, I entered the slipstream of a mob and was whisked away to the heart of the old-town and the christmas market.

Big Crowd

At this point I still don't understand what is happening and why people are jockeying for position so aggressively within the square. And then it happened, a brass band started belting away Slavic Christmas tunes and everyone turned to stare at the silhouette of the town's Christmas tree.

After much adieu and a count-down, somebody plugged the big tree in and everyone clapped.  It was rather anti-climatic to be honest, although the tree was beautiful:

I really enjoyed Prague.  It was not crowded (apart from the lighting of the tree), had beautiful architecture, very walk-able, and very obvious that there was a lot of history within one town.  During one of the days I ended up looking out onto a square that looked very familiar.  I looked it up on the internet and realized I had taken almost the exact picture as the one my high-school textbook used when discussing the Velvet Revolution.  

Original photo from Brian Harris