With shrines to both St. Vitus and St. Wenceslaus, it's no wonder Czechs consider this their national church – in spite of its much-delayed building schedule.
St.Vitus Cathedral, which sits in the heart of the Prague Castle complex – towering over both it and the Old Town across the river – is the undoubted icon of Prague. It's similarly undoubted that it has been a long time coming. First started in 1344 by Charles the IV – King of Bohemia and soon to be Holy Roman Emperor – it wasn't finally completed in 1929. Close to six hundred years of grand designs, inspired architects, failed schemes and unnecessary tinkering but they have given Prague a masterpiece of a cathedral. The Cathedral is dedicated to St.Vitus, one of the most popular of the martyr saints for the Slavic Czechs. The first Cathedral here, a Romanesque structure, was built to house the hand of St.Vitus. It was given to the Duke of Bohemia, Wenceslaus I, in 925.The current Gothic St.Vitus Cathedral also has another much-revered Czech saint – St. Wenceslaus, the very-same Wenceslaus I sanctified after his death. He was so renowned for his good deeds you may know him better as 'Good King Wenceslaus'. With these two patron saints of the Czech people, it's no wonder that St.Vitus Cathedral is so loved by the people of Prague.
That love didn't translate into a quick build-time for St.Vitus Cathedral, though. It started well enough, with the gifted Peter Parler bringing some Gothic innovation, to a Cathedral started by Frenchman Matthias of Arras. But the Hussite Wars of the 15th century – when Bohemia became one of the first 'protestant' countries – left the half-built Cathedral wrecked and desolate. For long centuries it was only tinkered with. It was only in 1844, when the 'Union for Completion of the Cathedral of St Vitus in Prague' was formed, that the final push to complete Gothic splendour of St. Vitus began. That finally happened in its 1929 consecration.The wait was certainly worth it. Here you'll find the fine tracery of Parler's net vaults, the intricately coloured glass-work of the Rose Window, and the regal radiance of the Czech Crown Jewels. It's also here that Bohemia's kings came to be coronated, and where they are buried. You can see their tombs (and those of the Holy Roman Emperors) in the Cathedral's Royal Tomb. Though, of course, there might be a wait.
