Hello Prague: A Walk On The Ancient Castle Walls In Vysrehard
When in Prague, and I do hope you’ll have the chance to visit sometime OFF SEASON, make sure to get away from the tourist packed Old Town and experience the tranquil beauty of the city at large. My number one recommendation for that is a visit to Vysehrad! (Even the name sounds enchanting, and it is!) Vyšehrad (Czech for “upper castle”) is a historic fort in Prague, Czech Republic, just over 3 km southeast of Prague Castle, and on the east bank of the Vltava River, on a rocky promontory above the river. It was probably built in the 10th century, around 990 AD, though the most glorious period of the Vysehrad’s history belongs, to the 11th century, when it became the seat of the first Czech king and his ancestors. Then, in the 14th century, the famous King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV decided to bring Vysehrad back to its historical glory. Among other things, he added a pilgrimage to Vysehrad to the Czech king’s coronation process.
Over the centuries, other Czech rulers have brought glory to Vysehrad, having numerous architectural gems built there. The present form of Vyšehrad as a fortified residence, with powerful brick ramparts, bastions, and the Tábor and Leopold gates, is a result of Baroque remodeling, and fortunately, in 1962, the area of Vysehrad was declared a National Cultural Monument,
The entire Vysehrad complex is expansive and features many parks and narrow streets where you can enjoy the gorgeous views of the river and the surrounding neighborhoods. After visiting the Dancing House building, we continued our walk along the river, and took a path from the street up to the compound. There are many ways to enter, but I enjoyed walking up the stairs though the wooded property and enjoying the views as we ascended. You can see photos of those views here. In doing a little of research for this article I did notice that there is a tourist information booth at the Špička Gate, so if you choose to enter there you can collect all the information you’ll need to enjoy this special spot. (Not to mention that I found the tourist information literature, gorgeous little books really, given away at the tourist office to be AMAZING, with so many ideas for walks and interesting ways to get to know Prague. Okay, speaking of walks, lets enjoy a little walk around the fortress walls!
As you can see from this photo, the fortress/castle walls are very deep, so a walking path was literally constructed on top of them. The Cihelná brána (Brick gate) is an Empire-style structure, dating from 1841.
An old wall overlooking the river, not sure of its origin.
Gorgeous views looking north-west towards the Prague castle, on the horizon.
Ah yes, a closer look at the Prague castle complex on the horizon.
Not sure what this is, but likely a remnant from the middle ages, wow.
A gorgeous view of the wall snaking its way around, with the modern brutalist style TV tower on the right at the horizon. What a constrast!
Looking Southish down the river………
Another contrast between architectural styles, just try to ignore that freeway!
Beautiful buildings, right out of a fairy tale? Much of Prague has that feeling, like you are stepping into an imaginary world!
Okay, here we are, back where we started, at the top of the path that we took from the street below. A wonderful afternoon at Vysrehard is still so fresh in my memory, and hope to come back to explore even more!
