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In the footsteps of Alphonse Mucha: The Cathedral of Sts Vitus, Wenceslas and Adalbert
It was during the finishing work on the cathedral that Alphonse Mucha was asked by the Czech bank Slavia to decorate one stained glass window. The window was finally set in place in the northern nave of the cathedral in 1931. The central panel presents St Wenceslas with his grandmother St Ludmila and scenes from the life of the Slavic missionaries of Sts Cyril and Methodius. The image of the goddess Slavia as an emblem of the bank is incorporated near the figure of Christ. The window itself is in the front left section of the cathedral, in the New Archbishop’s Chapel.
Practical information
The history of this cathedral dates back to the first third of the 10th century, when Prince Wenceslas received the relic of St Vitus’ shoulder-bone from the Saxon Emperor, Henry the Fowler. Whereas Wenceslas had the rotunda of St Vitus built, Prince Spytihněv II erected a larger basilica on the site of the rotunda, and in its place in 1344 Charles IV and his father founded a cathedral. It served as the seat of the Archbishop of Prague, and was used for the coronations of rulers as well as their last resting place and, and as a treasury of the crown jewels. However, the cathedral was not completed for several centuries, and today is comprised of two parts: the eastern part with the choir, chapels and great bell-tower dates from the 14th-15th centuries; the western part with the transverse nave, triple-nave and twin-spire frontage was added only in the 2nd half of the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th.
Contacts
- In the footsteps of Alphonse Mucha: The Cathedral of Sts Vitus, Wenceslas and Adalbert
- Pražský hrad - III. nádvoří
- Praha 1 – Hradčany
Information source: Prague City Tourism