Prague Castle

Timeline

1. c. 870

   Founding by Borivoj I

   Duke Borivoj I of the Premyslid dynasty moves his court to the Hradcany hill and builds the first walled church, the Church of the Virgin Mary, founding the castle.

2. Early 10th c.

   St George and St Vitus founded

   Under Vratislaus I and Wenceslaus I the Basilicas of St George and St Vitus are established, and the first convent in Bohemia is founded next to St George.

3. 1344

   Gothic cathedral begun

   Under Emperor Charles IV, construction of the Gothic St Vitus Cathedral begins under master architect Matthias of Arras, later continued by Peter Parler.

4. 1485

   Jagiellonian reconstruction

   King Vladislaus II Jagiellon launches a major reconstruction of the castle, devastated and abandoned during the Hussite Wars, in late Gothic style.

5. 1502

   Vladislav Hall completed

   Architect Benedikt Rejt completes the 62-metre Vladislav Hall, regarded as the pinnacle of late Gothic ribbed-vault construction in central Europe.

6. 1541

   Great fire and Renaissance rebuild

   A devastating fire destroys large parts of the castle; the Habsburgs add Renaissance buildings including Ferdinand I's Belvedere summer palace.

7. May 1618

   Third Defenestration of Prague

   Two imperial regents are thrown from a castle window, triggering the Bohemian Revolt and igniting the Thirty Years' War across Europe.

8. 1648

   Battle of Prague and looting

   At the end of the Thirty Years' War, Swedish troops occupy the castle and loot much of Emperor Rudolf II's celebrated art collection.

9. 1755-1775

   Theresian reconstruction

   Empress Maria Theresa oversees the last major rebuilding, reshaping the southern wing with Baroque and Classicist facades that survive today.

10. 1918

    Czechoslovak presidential seat

    With the founding of Czechoslovakia, Prague Castle becomes the seat of the new presidency and the working office of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk.

11. 1920s-1930s

    Plecnik's modern renovation

    Slovenian architect Joze Plecnik redesigns the New Royal Palace, gardens, and the monolithic granite obelisk in a restrained modern idiom.

12. 1929

    St Vitus Cathedral consecrated

    Almost six centuries after construction began in 1344, the Gothic-revival St Vitus Cathedral is consecrated in a state ceremony marking the millennium of St Wenceslas.

13. 1992

    UNESCO inscription

    Prague Castle is inscribed by UNESCO as part of the Historic Centre of Prague, together with the Old Town, Mala Strana, and Charles Bridge.

14. 1993

    Seat of the Czech Republic

    After the peaceful split of Czechoslovakia, the castle becomes the seat of the new Czech Republic's presidency and the working office of the head of state.

Detailed History

The history of Prague Castle begins in the late 9th century. Around 870, Duke Borivoj I of the Premyslid dynasty moved his court to the Hradcany hill after his baptism and built the first walled structure, the Church of the Virgin Mary. In the first half of the 10th century the Basilicas of St George and an early St Vitus were founded under Vratislaus I and Wenceslaus I, and the first convent in Bohemia was established next to St George. A Romanesque palace rose in the 12th century, and King Ottokar II strengthened the fortifications in the 13th. The turning point came under Charles IV, who became Holy Roman Emperor in 1346 and made Prague his imperial capital. He rebuilt the royal palace in Gothic style and in 1344 began replacing the old basilica of St Vitus with a vast Gothic cathedral — a project that would take almost six centuries to finish. The Hussite Wars left the castle uninhabited for decades, but in 1485 King Vladislaus II Jagiellon launched a reconstruction during which architect Benedikt Rejt added the great Vladislav Hall, the late Gothic masterpiece. A major fire in 1541 caused enormous damage, after which the Habsburgs introduced Renaissance buildings: Ferdinand I built the Belvedere as a summer palace for Queen Anne, and Rudolf II made the castle his main residence, adding the Spanish Hall on the north wing for his celebrated art collection. The Third Defenestration of Prague in 1618, when Bohemian Protestants threw two imperial governors from a castle window, ignited the Bohemian Revolt and triggered the Thirty Years' War; the Battle of Prague in 1648 ended with Swedish troops looting much of Rudolf's collection. Empress Maria Theresa oversaw the last major rebuilding in the later 18th century, reshaping the southern wing in Baroque and Classicist forms. In 1918, after Czechoslovakia's founding, the castle became the seat of the new presidency, and Slovenian architect Joze Plecnik renovated the New Royal Palace and gardens for President Masaryk in the 1920s-1930s. St Vitus Cathedral was finally consecrated in 1929. During Nazi occupation it became the headquarters of Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich; after 1948 it housed the communist Czechoslovak government. Following the Velvet Revolution of 1989 and the federation's split in 1993, it became the seat of the Czech Republic and remains the working office of the president.

Cultural Significance

Prague Castle is the centrepiece of the UNESCO World Heritage site Historic Centre of Prague, inscribed in 1992 together with the Old Town, Mala Strana, and Charles Bridge. It is one of the rare places on earth where every European architectural style from Romanesque to Baroque sits stacked on a single ridge. The Guinness Book of Records lists it as the largest ancient castle in the world, with a footprint of around 70,000 square metres, and it attracted 2.59 million visitors in 2024 — the most visited tourist site in the Czech Republic. In Czech political vocabulary, the single word 'Hrad' (the Castle) functions as a metonym for the presidency itself; news headlines like 'The Castle has remained silent' refer to a refusal by the president to comment. The complex has featured in cinema as well: scenes in Milos Forman's 1984 Best Picture winner 'Amadeus' were filmed inside St Vitus Cathedral, and the castle has stood in for various imperial settings in international productions including Les Miserables (2012). The Bohemian Crown Jewels are kept in a hidden chamber inside St Vitus, with seven keys distributed across seven senior officials of state — the regalia can only be brought out when all seven keys are produced together, a ceremonial protocol unchanged for centuries.

Architectural Details

Prague Castle stretches about 570 metres east-west and 70-140 metres north-south along the narrow Hradcany ridge, a continuous chain of fortifications, palaces, churches, and gardens organised around three main courtyards. The First, Second, and Third Courtyards anchor the western half and contain the working presidential quarters, while the eastern end opens onto the Square of St George and the residential-defensive cluster of Golden Lane. The dominant structure is the Gothic St Vitus Cathedral, begun by Matthias of Arras and continued by Peter Parler from the late 14th century; its south tower rises to roughly 96 metres, while the twin western towers and principal facade were completed in neo-Gothic style during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Old Royal Palace contains Vladislav Hall, built by Benedikt Rejt in 1493-1502, a 62 by 16 metre interior with a ceiling 13 metres high whose intersecting rib vaults are considered the supreme example of late Gothic structural ornament. The Basilica of St George is one of the oldest surviving Romanesque churches in Bohemia, founded in the 10th century, with its twin towers and painted chancel preserved. Golden Lane along the northern curtain wall holds eleven 16th-century painted cottages backing onto a fortified passage that ends at the 15th-century Daliborka prison tower.