This is the Vyšehrad. Hrad means castle, so it is called the High Castle. It is much less popular a destination then the main castle in Prague, at least to the tourists. The locals see it as the mythical birthplace of the city. Personally, I enjoyed it more because I was able to ride the bike there and actually relax and get a feel for the place.
The the first set of pictures below are of the walls around the castle and view from them. The second one is looking straight down the wall to the ground.
In the Prague myth the wise chieftain Krok built the first castle here in the 7th century. As the story goes, his cleverest daughter, Libuše, prophesied that a great city would rise here. She is known as the mother of the Přemsyl line because she chose to follow the prophecy and marry a common ploughman. Together they founded Praha and the Přemyslid line of Czech rulers. The story was very intriguing to me and explained one of the major cultural differences that I observed during my short stay; namely, Czech seem to have much more respect for women then other Europeans that I have observed. This would have meant nothing to me had I not actually gone to Vyšehrad and learned a bit about the history. As the story continued, after Libuše died, a renegade army of women fled across the Vltava river. Šárka, another heroin, was chosen as a decoy to trap Ctirad, captain of the men's army. Unfortunately, she fell in love with him, and after her cohorts did him in, she threw herself into the the Šárka valley in remorse. The women were slaughtered by the men of Hradčany in the final battle. Whether these myths are true or not they help form the sociological perspective of the Czech people and I find them truly fascinating. Below are the four statutes in the main courtyard of the castle grounds. They are to the South of the Church of SS Peter & Paul.
McDonald's Army
I couldn't resist taking this picture. I found this anti-McDonald's Capitalism work spray painted to the last gate coming out of the northern entrance. I think it depicts well the anti-American sentiment that has grown here despite the recent liberation from the Soviet Union. It is Ironic how quickly perspectives can change.
This is the Gothic Church of SS Peter & Paul. One of many incredible Gothic works that I observed while traveling around Central Europe. It has been built and rebuilt many times over the centuries with the current incarnation completed by Josef Mocker in the 1880s. The towers were added in 1903, and most of the interior frescoes were done around 1920. However, what is truly remarkable is the cometary to the north of the church, see below.
The graves in the cemetery serve as a who-is-who list of the elite of Prague. I was taken aback be the wide difference in the dates on the headstones and the beauty of many of the statutes. It was just after I snapped the shot above that I had my the most moving moment on my trip. There was an older Austrian gentleman tending a grave just across from this angel. The grave was obviously on of the newer in the cometary, but was still dated pre-2000. Some how I caught his attention and he attempted to engage me in conversation. Unfortunately, we lacked a common language but I was able to gather that this was his wife's grave and that she was Czech and he was Austrian. I believe that he met her after being liberated from the concentration camp at Terezín. The emotion in him and the obvious love that he still holds for his wife overcame me and we cried together for a moment. It was truly a beautiful and meaningful connection between two from relatively different worlds.
Finally, the most famous grave I believe, is that of Dvorák, shown above. I actually found many with the Dvorák name, but I believe this is the tomb of "the" Dvorák.
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