After exploring Praszky Hrad's grounds, Jaro, Maria, Ivan, and I made our way over to the Katredala Sv. Vita, better known in English as St. Vitus Cathedral, the HUGE Gothic cathedral located on Prague Castle's grounds and home to many of Bohemia royalty's final resting places.
Like the Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral has a long and storied history dating from its consecration in 925. The cathedral's name, St. Vitus was given by Duke Wenceslaus I because he had acquired the arm of St. Vitus, which is a holy relic. The original church was a small Romanesque church that handled the needs of the small Christian community in Prague.
In 1060, as the Catholic community of Prague increased, Prince Spythinev II decided it was time to build and even bigger church for his community. A bigger Romanesque basilica was built but not completed. St. Wenceslas's, the patron saint of Bohemian princes, tomb was at St. Vitus Cathedral and this was another reason to expand the cathedral.
The present-day Gothic Cathedral that you see when you visit St. Vitus Cathedral was completed on 21 November 1344 when Prague became and archbishopric, and the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles IV wanted St. Vitus to become a coronation church along with final resting place for Bohemian royalty. The extensive construction of the triple-naved bascilicas and flying butresses took hundreds of years to construct, and Charles IV only lived to see the Eastern part of the cathedral completed.
In the 18th Century after 400 years of construction (and you thought your house building took forever), due to not having that Black and Decker saw and lack of money to carry on the work, the cathedral was strated again, and the Baroque southern spire and great organ were completed. By the time the St. Wenceslas Jubilee came around in 1929, construction of St. Vitus Cathedral was complete after almost 600 years of delays and hard work. What you see today at St. Vitus is mostly the work done by Peter Parler and his sons in the late 14th and 15th centuries.
Jaro, Maria, Ivan, and I spent about an hour touring St. Vitus Cathedral's interior. It has a massive triple nave main hall complete with a gorgeous altar and several stained glass windows that date from the 18th-20th Centuries. The most known window is The Mucha Window by Alfons Mucha completed in the late-19th Century. The Rose Window over the main portal was completed by Frantisek Kysela from 1925-1927.
I am not religious and as a jack Catholic, I was impressed by this beautiful cathedral and felt a little spiritual touring St. Vitus, and I believe that you will feel that way, too.
St. Vitus Cathedral is open to the public daily and masses are held every Sunday, so don't tour the place during masses. The price to tour the Cathedral is included in the Castle tour, and it is well worth your time to check it out!