St. Vitus Cathedral
St. Vitus Cathedral | |
---|---|
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saints Vitus, Wenceslaus and Adalbert | |
Prague | |
Clergy | |
Archbishop | Jan Graubner |
Provost | Václav Malý |
Dean | Ondřej Pávek |
Deacon(s) | Štěpán Faber |
The Metropolitan Cathedral of
This cathedral is a prominent example of
Origins
The current cathedral is the third of a series of religious buildings at the site, all dedicated to St. Vitus. The first church was an early
In the year 1060, as the bishopric of Prague was founded, prince Spytihněv II embarked on building a more spacious church, as it became clear the existing rotunda was too small to accommodate the faithful. A much larger and more representative Romanesque basilica was built in its spot. Though still not completely reconstructed, most experts agree it was a triple-aisled basilica with two choirs and a pair of towers connected to the western transept. The design of the cathedral nods to Romanesque architecture of the Holy Roman Empire, most notably to the abbey church in Hildesheim and the Speyer Cathedral. The southern apse of the rotunda was incorporated into the eastern transept of the new church because it housed the tomb of St. Wenceslaus, who had by now become the patron saint of the Czech princes. A bishop's mansion was also built south of the new church, and was considerably enlarged and extended in the mid-12th century.
The Gothic cathedral
Construction of the present-day Gothic cathedral began on 21 November 1344, when the seat of Prague was elevated to an archbishopric. King
After Matthias' death in 1352, 23-year-old Peter Parler assumed control of the cathedral workshop as master builder. He was son of the architect of the Heilig-Kreuz-Münster in Schwäbisch Gmünd. Initially, Parler only worked on plans left by his predecessor, building the sacristy on the north side of the choir and the chapel on the south. Once he finished all that Matthias left unfinished, he continued according to his own ideas. Parler's bold and innovative design brought in a unique new synthesis of Gothic elements in architecture. This is best exemplified in the vaults he designed for the choir. The so-called Parler's vaults or net-vaults have double (not single, as in classic High Gothic groin vaults) diagonal ribs that span the width of the choir-bay. The crossing pairs of ribs create a net-like construction (hence the name), which considerably strengthens the vault. They also give a lively ornamentation to the ceiling, as the interlocking vaulted bays create a dynamic zigzag pattern the length of the cathedral.
While Matthias of Arras was schooled as a geometer, thus putting an emphasis on rigid systems of proportions and clear, mathematical compositions in his design, Parler was trained as a sculptor and woodcarver. He treated architecture as a sculpture, almost as if playing with structural forms in stone. Aside from his bold vaults, the peculiarities of his work can also be seen in the design of pillars (with classic, bell-shaped columns which were almost forgotten by High Gothic), the ingenious dome vault of new St. Wenceslaus chapel, the undulating clerestory walls, the original window tracery (no two of his windows are the same, the ornamentation is always different) and the blind tracery panels of the buttresses. Architectural sculpture was given a considerable role while Parler was in charge of construction, as can be seen in the corbels, the passageway lintels, and, particularly, in the busts on the triforium, which depict faces of the royal family, saints, Prague bishops, and the two master builders, including Parler himself.
Work on the cathedral, however, proceeded slowly, because the Emperor commissioned Parler with many other projects, such as the construction of the new Charles Bridge in Prague and many churches throughout the Czech realm. By 1397, when Peter Parler died, only the choir and parts of the transept were finished.
After Peter Parler's death in 1399 his sons,
The entire building process came to a halt with the beginning of
St. Wenceslaus Chapel
Perhaps the most outstanding place in the cathedral is the Chapel of
A small door with seven locks, in the southwest corner of the chapel, leads to the Crown Chamber containing the Czech crown jewels, which are displayed to the public only once every (circa) eight years.
Renaissance and Baroque
Through most of the following centuries, the cathedral stood only half-finished. It was built to the great tower and a transept, which was closed by a provisional wall. In the place of a three-aisled nave-to-be-built, a timber-roofed construction stood, and services were held separately there from the interior of the choir. Several attempts to continue the work on the cathedral were mostly unsuccessful. In the latter half of the 15th century, king
Completion in 19th and 20th century
In 1844,
In the 1920s the sculptor
Organ
The St. Vitus Cathedral has two organ casings. The upper façade belonged to a baroque organ, which was built in 1765 by Anton Gartner. It had 40 stops on 3 manuals and pedals. This case is purely decorative. The associated work was transported around 1909 and was lost.
The lower neoclassical casing contains today's main organ. It was built by Josef Melzel in the years 1929–31. A general overhaul was carried out by the organ builder Brachtl a Kánský (1999–2001).[4] The rather modest instrument in relation to the large church space has 58 stops on 3 manuals and pedals, 4,475 pipes in total. The action is purely pneumatic. With a large number of basic pipes (flutes and principals) and little reeds (trumpets), the instrument has a rather gentle tone – a typical feature of post-Romantic organs.[5]
Influence
The Cathedral of St. Vitus had a tremendous influence on the development of
, Czech Republic, and southern Germany were all heavily influenced by Parler design.Of particular interest are Parler's
Recent history
In 1997, on 1000th anniversary of the death of
In 1954, a government decree entrusted the whole Prague Castle into ownership of "all Czechoslovak people" and into administration of the President's Office. Beginning in 1992, after the
In July 2012, the Chamber of Deputies passed a bill to compensate the churches for property seized by the Communist government.[8] The Senate approved the bill in November 2012 and the government implemented it the following June after clearing legal challenges.[9]
Gallery
Further reading
- Fučíková, Eliška, Martin Halata, Klára Halmanová, Pvel Scheufler. "Prague Castle in Photographs /1956-1900". Prague: Správa Pražského hradu a Nakladatelství KANT, 2005. ISBN 80-86217-94-9
- K. Benešovská, P. Chotebor, T. Durdík, M. Placek, D. Prix, V. Razim. "Architecture of the Gothic", vol. 2 of "Ten centuries of architecture" series, Prague Castle Administration & DaDa, a.s., Prague 2001, ISBN 80-86161-41-2(English version)
See also
- Czech Gothic architecture
- St. George's Basilica, Prague
- Treasury of St. Vitus Cathedral
- History of early modern period domes
References
- ^ Hold, Gabriella (26 May 2010). "Church concedes battle for St. Vitus". The Prague Post. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
- ^ "Katedrála svatého Víta" [St. Vitus Cathedral] (in Czech). Prague Castle. Archived from the original on 20 June 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
- ^ "St. Vitus Cathedral". Prague Castle. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
- ^ Praha – Katedrála sv. Víta, Václava a Vojtěcha Archived 20 February 2019 at the Wayback Machine, see also Homepage Archived 12 August 2022 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "More Organ informations". Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ISBN 80-86161-41-2(English version)
- ^ "Relics of Bohemia's patron Saint adalbert find new resting place". 24 April 2014. Archived from the original on 28 April 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
- ^ "Czechs close to compensating churches". The Economist. 18 July 2012. Archived from the original on 14 March 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
- from the original on 25 July 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
See also
- List of Gothic Cathedrals in Europe