Peter and Paul

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The Peter and Paul Church sits high above the Vltava River and is one of our favorite churches in Prauge. None of the violent statues "adorn" the interior. In fact there are few statues in this church. Rather there are beautiful paintings and a beautiful ceiling. It was here that Princess Libuse pophesied that Prague would become a great city and it was here in the tenth century the first castle was built. During the passing centuries the castle and fort was destroyed and rebuilt a number of times. The entire complex of ruins and builds take up a good sized portion of land. It is not hard to see why a castle and fort was built here. The site sits high above the river giving a good view of the river and land on three sides. The land drops very steeply to the river and also very steeply on two sides. It is like a neck of land with only a narrow approach from from the "shoulders." The name given to this area is Vysehrad. The word "hrad" means castle.

There is a fee to enter and walk around the Church of Peter and Paul. As we entered there were signs indication that the taking of photographs is not allowed. My intention was to follow the rule, though I really did want to take pictures. Three young Oriental women entered behind us. I saw that they stopped and talked to the man selling entrance tickets and then began taking photographs. I walked back to the ticket agent.

"May I take pictures here?" I asked.

"Sure," he replied with a wave of his hand.

I will write more about Vysehrad in other entries showing other areas including a beautiful view of the Vltava River.

There is a legend here that centuries ago the devil made a bet with a priest. He bet the priest that he could carry a large stone pillar to Rome and back before the priest could finish saying mass. The devil lost. He became so furious that he threw the pillar down, breaking it into three pieces, just outside the church. And there is lies in the church yard to this day.

The church of Peter and Paul was built

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Photos

The broken pillar.
The Devil being a poor looser threw the pillar down, breaking it into three pieces.