Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
with a mosaic inscription, studded with gold stones, glistening behind wrought-iron railings.
BedřichSmetana
(1824-84),whodiedtwentyyearsearlier,isburiedincomparativelymod-
est surroundings near the
Slavín monument
. The Pražské jaro festival begins with a proces-
sion from his grave to the Obecní dům, on the anniversary of his death (May 12).
Other graves that attract (mostly Czech) pilgrims are those of the nineteenth-century writer
Božena Němcová
, in the shadow of the church's east end, and nearby author Jan Neruda
from the same era. Playwright
KarelČapek
, whose final resting place faces the arcades - he
coinedoneofthetwoCzechwordstohaveenteredtheEnglishlanguage,“robot”(theotheris
“pistol”). Several graves of lesser-known individuals stand out artistically, too: in particular,
František Bílek's towering statue
Sorrow
on the grave of the writer Václav Beneš Třebízský,
which aroused a storm of protest when it was first unveiled; Bohumil Kafka's headstone for
Dr Josef Kaizl, with a woman's face peeping out from the grave; and Karel Hladík's modern
Cathedral
sculpture, which sits above his own grave. Surprisingly, the grave of Josef Mock-
er, Bohemia's great nineteenth-century neo-Gothicizer, hasn't a trace of neo-Gothic styling
on it at all.
The Slavín monument
The focus of the cemetery is the
Slavín monument
, a big, bulky stele built in 1893 to a
design by Antonín Wiehl, covered in commemorative plaques and topped by a sarcophagus
and a statue representing Genius. It's the communal resting place of more than fifty Czech
artists,includingthepainter
AlfonsMucha
,thesculptorsJosefVáclavMyslbekandLadislav
Šaloun, the architect Josef Gočár and the opera singer
Ema Destinnová
.
Kasematy (dungeons)
Daily: Guided tours hourly 10am-4pm • 60Kč
Once you've seen the Vyšehrad Cemetery and the basilica of sv Petr and Pavel the next best
thing to do is to head off and explore the
Kasematy
, or dungeons, which you enter via the
Cihelná brána
. After a short guided tour of a section of the underground passageways be-
neath the ramparts, you enter a vast storage hall that shelters several of the original statues
from the Charles Bridge. There's also an interesting exhibition on the history of the fortress
and Prague's city defences through the ages.
Galerie Vyšehrad
Daily: April-Oct 9.30am-6pm; Nov, Dec & March 9.30am-5pm • 60Kč • Metro Vyšehrad
The
GalerieVyšehrad
,asmallartgalleryhousedinoneofVyšehrad'sbastions,putsontem-
poraryexhibitionsofworkusuallybyCzechartists.Thegallerystandsabove
Libušinalázně
(Libuše'sbath)wherethemythicalprincessissaidtohavebathedwithherloversbeforehurl-
ing them down into the Vltava when she grew tired of them. The oblong structure is in fact
the ruins of a fifteenth-century defensive tower.
