Entrance to the Prague Castle at night

The Prague Castle (Czech: Pražský hrad) is the castle in Prague where the Czech kings, Holy Roman Emperors and presidents of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic have had their offices. The crown jewels of the Bohemian Kingdom are kept here. Prague Castle is one of the biggest castles in the world (according to Guinness Book of Records the biggest ancient castle ^[1]) at about 570 meters in length and an average of about 130 meters wide. Image File history File linksMetadata Prague_castle. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Prague_castle. ... For other uses, see Castle (disambiguation). ... Nickname: Motto: Praga Caput Rei publicae Location within the Czech Republic Coordinates: , Country Czech Republic Region Capital City of Prague Founded 9th century Government  - Mayor Pavel Bém Area  - City 496 km²  (191. ... The extent of the Holy Roman Empire around 1630, superimposed over modern European state borders Capital None Language(s) Latin, German, many others Religion Roman Catholicism Government Monarchy Emperor  - 962–967 Otto I  - 973–983 Otto II  - 996–1002 Otto III  - 1014– 1024 Henry II  - 1027–1039 Conrad II  - 1046... Flag of the President of the Czech Republic This is a list of presidents of the Czech Republic. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Suresh Joachim, minutes away from breaking the ironing world record at 55 hours and 5 minutes, at Shoppers World, Brampton. ...

History

View of Prague Castle from Rudolfinum Concert Hall

South view of the St. Vitus Cathedral

The history of the castle stretches back to the 9th century (870). The first walled building was the church of Our Lady. The Basilica of Saint George and the Basilica of St. Vitus were founded in the first half of the 10th century. The first convent in Bohemia was founded in the castle, next to the church of St. George. A Romanesque palace was erected here during the 12th century. In the 14th century, under the reign of Charles IV the royal palace was rebuilt in Gothic style and the castle fortifications were strengthened. In place of rotunda and basilica of St. Vitus began building of a vast Gothic church, that have been completed almost six centuries later. During the Hussite Wars and the following decades the Castle was not inhabited. In 1485 King Ladislaus II Jagello begins to rebuild the castle. The massive Vladislav Hall (built by Benedikt Rejt) was added to the Royal Palace. Then were also built new defence towers on the northern side of the castle. A big fire of 1541 destroyed large parts of the castle. Under Habsburgs some new buildings in renaissance style appeared here. Ferdinand I built Belvedere, summer palace for his wife Anne. Rudolph II used Prague Castle as his main residence. He founded the northern wing of the palace, with the Spanish Hall, where his precious artistic collections were exhibited. Second Prague defenestration in 1618 began the Bohemian Revolt. During the subsequent wars the Castle was damaged and dilapidated. Many works from the collection of Rudolph II were looted by Swedes in 1648, in the course of the Thirty Years' War. The last major rebuilding of the castle was carried out by Queen Maria Theresa in the second half of the 18th century. Ferdinand V after abdication in 1848 chose Prague Castle as his home. In 1918 the castle became the seat of the president of the new Czechoslovak Republic. The New Royal Palace and the gardens were renovated by Slovenian architect Jože Plečnik. Image File history File linksMetadata Prague_castle. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Prague_castle. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 590 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2018 × 2052 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 590 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2018 × 2052 pixel, file size: 1. ... St. ... As a means of recording the passage of time the 9th century was the century that lasted from 801 to 900. ... Saint George may refer to: Saint George, the best known saint of this name George, a saint and one of the Martyrs of Cordoba with Aurelius and Natalia St Georges Church or St. ... Flag of Bohemia Bohemia (Czech: ; German: ) is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western and middle thirds of the Czech Republic. ... Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor. ... Interior of Cologne Cathedral Gothic architecture is a style of architecture, particularly associated with cathedrals and other churches, which flourished in Europe during the high and late medieval period. ... Crusades First – Peoples – German – 1101 – Second – Third – Fourth – Albigensian – Childrens – Fifth – Sixth – Seventh – Shepherds – Eighth – Ninth – Aragonese – Alexandrian – Nicopolis – Northern – Hussite – Varna – Otranto Hussite Wars Nekmer - SudomÄ•Å™ – Vítkov – VyÅ¡ehrad – Nebovidy - NÄ›mecký Brod – HoÅ™ice – Ústí nad Labem – Tachov – Lipany – Grotniki The Hussite Wars, also called... Ladislaus Jagellion (in Czech Vladislav Jagellonský, in Hungarian II. Ulászló) was the King of Bohemia from 1471 and the King of Hungary from 1490 until his death in 1516. ... Benedikt Rejt was a famous Medieval Czech-German architect. ... Habsburg (sometimes spelled Hapsburg, but never so in official use) was one of the major ruling houses of Europe. ... Tempietto di San Pietro in Montorio, Rome, 1502, by Bramante. ... Ferdinand in 1531, the year of his election as King of the Romans Ferdinand I (10 March 1503 – 25 July 1564) was an Austrian monarch from the House of Habsburg. ... Anna Jagellonica of Bohemia and Hungary (July 23, 1503 - January 27, 1547) was queen of Hungary and Bohemia, Queen-consort of the Romans and heiress of Bohemia and Hungary. ... Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II Rudolf II Habsburg was an emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, king of Bohemia, and king of Hungary. ... The Defenestrations of Prague can refer to either of two incidents in the history of Bohemia. ... Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II Rudolf II Habsburg was an emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, king of Bohemia, and king of Hungary. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Not to be confused with Maria Theresa of Austria (1816-1867). ... Emperor Ferdinand Ferdinand I Karl Leopold Joseph Franz Marchlin Emperor of Austria King of Hungary and Bohemia (April 19, 1793 – June 29, 1875) succeeded his father (Franz II Holy Roman Emperor/Franz I of Austria) as Emperor and King in 1835 and was forced to abdicate in 1848. ... Czechoslovakia (Czech: Československo, Slovak: Česko-Slovensko/before 1990 Československo) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1992 (except for the World War II period). ... Jože Plečnik, (born January 23, 1872 in Ljubljana, Austro-Hungary (now Slovenia), died January 7, 1957 in Ljubljana) was a famous Slovene architect who practiced in Vienna, Belgrade, Prague and Ljubljana. ...

During the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia during World War II, Prague Castle became the headquarters of Reinhard Heydrich, the "Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia". It is said that he placed the Bohemian crown on his head, believing himself to be a great king; old legends say that a usurper who places the crown on his head is doomed to die within a year.^[2] Less than a year after assuming power, Heydrich was assassinated. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Look up Usurper in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

After the liberation of Czechoslovakia, it housed the offices of the communist Czechoslovak government. During the Velvet Revolution, Alexander Dubček, the leader of Czechoslovakia during the Prague Spring, appeared on a balcony overlooking Wenceslas Square to hear throngs of protesters below shouting "Dubček to the castle!" As they pushed for him to take his seat as president of the country at Prague Castle, he embraced the crowd as a symbol of democratic freedom. Non-violent protesters face armoured policemen The Velvet Revolution (Czech: , Slovak: ) (November 16 – December 29, 1989) refers to a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that saw the overthrow of the communist government there. ... Alexander Dubček (November 27, 1921 – November 7, 1992) was a Slovak politician and briefly leader of Czechoslovakia (1968-1969), famous for his attempt to reform the Communist regime (Prague Spring). ... People in a café watch Soviet tanks roll past The Prague Spring (Czech: Pražské jaro, Slovak: Pražská jar, Russian: пражская весна) was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia starting January 5, 1968 when Alexander Dubček came to power, and running until August 20 of that year when the...

After Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the castle became the seat of the Head of State of the new Czech Republic. Similar to what Masaryk did with Plečnik, president Václav Havel commissionned Bořek Šípek to be the architect of post-communism Prague Castle's necessary improvements in particular of the facelift of the Castle's Gallery of paintings. Flag of the President of the Czech Republic This is a list of presidents of the Czech Republic. ... Václav Havel, GCB, CC, (IPA: ) (born October 5, 1936 in Prague) is a Czech writer and dramatist. ... Arzenal, BoÅ™ek Šípeks shop in Prague. ...

Architectural styles of Prague Castle

Entrance to the Prague Castle

The castle buildings represent virtually every architectural style of the last millennium. The Prague Castle includes gothic St Vitus Cathedral, romanesque basilica of St. George, a monastery and several palaces, gardens and defence towers. Most of the castle areas are opened to the tourists. Nowadays, the castle houses several museums, including the National Gallery collection of Bohemian baroque and mannerism art, exhibition dedicated to Czech history, Toy Museum and the picture gallery of Prague Castle, based on the collection of Rudolph II. Summer Shakespeare Festival regularly takes place in the courtyard of the Burgrave Palace. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1024x768, 332 KB) Entrance to the Prague Castle I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1024x768, 332 KB) Entrance to the Prague Castle I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... External links Cathedral page on Prague Castle Administration site Categories: Buildings and structures stubs | Prague | Roman Catholic cathedrals ... South transept of Tournai Cathedral, Belgium, 12th century. ... Adoration, by Peter Paul Rubens. ... In Parmigianinos Madonna with the Long Neck (1534-40), Mannerism makes itself known by elongated proportions, affected poses, and unclear perspective. ... Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II Rudolf II Habsburg was an emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, king of Bohemia, and king of Hungary. ... Summer Shakespeare Festival takes place in the courtyard of the Burgrave Palace at the Prague Castle. ...

The neighbourhood around the Prague Castle is called Hradčany. Hradčany from the Petřín Tower Hradčany (   listen[?]), the Castle District, is the Prague district surrounding the Prague Castle. ...

Churches

Church and monastery of St George, Prague Castle

• St. Vitus Cathedral
• St George's Basilica and convent

Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (2048 × 1536 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (2048 × 1536 pixel, file size: 1. ... St. ...

Palaces

• Old Royal Palace
• Belvedere (Royal Summer Palace)
• Lobkovicz Palace
• Gift shop
• Rosenberg Palace
• New Royal Palace (Spanish Hall, Rudolph's Gallery)

Other Buildings

Prague Castle at night.

• Dalibor Tower
• Powder Tower - Mihulka
• Golden Lane (Zlatá ulička)
• Supreme Burgrave's House
• Ball Game Hall
• Riding School
• Imperial Stables
• Old Provost Residence
• New Provost Residence

Image File history File links Prague Castle and the Charles Bridge at night. ... Image File history File links Prague Castle and the Charles Bridge at night. ...

Gardens

• Royal Garden
• Riding School Terrace Garden
• The Garden on the Bastion
• South Gardens
  • Paradise Garden
  • Garden on the Ramparts
  • The Hartig Garden
• Deer Moat

Notes

See also

• Defenestrations of Prague

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... The Defenestrations of Prague can refer to either of two incidents in the history of Bohemia. ...

External links

• Official website (in English)
• History of the castle (in English)

Coordinates: 50°05.385′N, 14°23.904′E Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...