Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
still only heir to the throne, not only wangled an independent archbishopric for Prague, but
also managed to gather together the relics of St Vitus.
Inspired by the cathedral at Narbonne in France, Charles commissioned the Frenchman
MatthiasofArras
to start work on a similar structure. Matthias died eight years into the job
in 1352, with the cathedral barely started, so Charles summoned
PeterParler
(Petr Parléř in
Czech),agifted23-year-oldfromafamilyofgreatGermanmasons,tocontinuethework.For
thenext46years,Parlerimprintedhisslightlyflashier,moreinventive
SonderGotik
(“Unusu-
al Gothic”) style on the city, but the cathedral advanced no further than the construction of
the choir and the south transept before his death in 1399.
Little significant work was carried out during the next four centuries and the half-built
cathedralbecameahighlyvisiblesymboloftheCzechs'frustratedaspirationstonationhood.
NotuntiltheCzechnationalrevival,or
národní obrození
,ofthenineteenthcenturydidbuild-
ing begin again in earnest, with the foundation, in 1859,ofthe
UnionfortheCompletionof
the Cathedral
. A succession of architects, including Josef Mocker and Kamil Hilbert, over-
saw the completion of the entire west end, and, with the help of countless other Czech artists
and sculptors, the building was transformed into a treasure-house of Czech art. The cathedral
wasfinallygivenanofficialopeningceremonyin1929,thoughwork,infact,continuedright
up to and beyond World War II.
The exterior
Prague's soot-laden air has made it harder to differentiate between the two building periods.
Close inspection, however, reveals that the
western facade
, including the twin spires, sports
therigorousifunimaginativeworkoftheneo-Gothicrestorers(theirbesuitedportraitscanbe
foundbelowtherosewindow),whilethe
easternsection
-bestviewedfromtheBelvedere-
shows the cathedral'soriginal Gothic roots. The south door,knownas the
Zlatá brána
,is also
pure Parler. Oddly then, it's above the south door that the cathedral's tallest steeple reveals
the most conspicuous stylistic join: Pacassi's Baroque topping resting absurdly on a Renais-
sance parapet of light stone, which is itself glued onto the blackened body of the original
Gothic tower - a far cry indeed from the commanding steeple envisaged by Charles IV.
The nave
It's difficult not to be impressed by the sheer height of the cathedral
nave
. This is the newest
part of the building, and, consequently, is decorated mostly with twentieth-century furnish-
ings. The most arresting of these are the modern
stained-glass windows
, which on sunny
days send shafts of rainbow light into the nave. The effect is stunning, though entirely out of
keeping with Parler's original concept, which was to have almost exclusively Gothic clear-
glass windows. The most unusual windows are those by František Kysela, which look as
though they have been shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces, a mosaic-like technique used
to brilliant effect in the kaleidoscopic rose window over the west door with its
Creation of
