Vysehrad Fortress (June 21)

Hark to the legends of olden times … 

Monday morning, and Colleen and I need to return the car and then we will go our separate ways … me to Vysehrad (homework) and then to school, her to the Jewish Quarter of Praha.  We will meet for dinner, as it is her last night in Praha tonight.

Last night we did make the right move and park the car at the hotel, no problems there!  So, I walk to meet Colleen and off we go to return the car.  Our trusty GPS girl guides us on our way – however, she is NOT aware of all the construction that is taking place in the city … so we are detoured SEVERAL times.  This turns into quite an adventure, as at one point we are directed down a one way street - at the end of which a lorry (sorry, I just had to get that word in there!) is blocking the way, while its inhabitants chat freely with a pedestrian.  The person in front of us gets so frustrated with the wait, that he blithely goes up onto the sidewalk and goes around them!  We divert down the street on the side instead.

Our adventure does NOT end there however.  During one of our detours, we end up down a super narrow street … now, when I say SUPER narrow – I mean SUPER damn narrow!  If anyone has been to Europe you know that virtually ALL the roads are narrow … well this one was SO narrow, that our tires actually squeaked from touching the curbstones marking the sidewalk.  And you know what, I freakin’ LOVED every minute of it!  As a person who loves to drive, and believes she is quite good at it, this was quite thrilling to me!

As Colleen was bound to exclaim several times throughout our driving excursions … “it’s like we’re on a roller coaster ride Ami” - - you bet ‘cha girlfriend!

So then, we made it to the car rental place just a little late – and Colleen and I parted ways.

Part of last week’s A+A homework, that I had not done yet, was a visit to Vysehrad - - one of the oldest fortress’ in Praha … and the legendary beginning of Praha as well.

The legend goes that two brothers came from the “Slavic land of time immemorial” with many tribes, as there was too much tribal fighting and not enough land to go around.  When they got to the Vltava River valley, they stopped and decided to stay.  One brother decided to continue East; however, the one that stayed was named Cech … also known as Father Cech (can you see where the country name came from?).

Cech ruled long and well, but died with no hiers.  The people chose a new leader, Father Pace he became know as.  When Pace died, he had only three daughters ... and it was decided that the favorite daughter would rule in his staid – Libuse was her name, and she was a prophetess.  Eventually some man, who hadn’t had his way during a legal dispute, criticized her and said that Czech was a laughing stock because it was ruled by a woman.  Libuse agreed that she was too soft to rule, and that perhaps it was time for a man to rule - - who would be harder with them, and take their sons to battle, and impose taxes too (apparently she was a wise-ass as well!).

Libuse called a council of all the leaders of the towns, and told them she had had a vision as to where they could find their future King … up on the hills, ploughing a field … and send men to find him.  And so Premsyl came to Vysehrad and married Libuse and became King.

Libuse then had a famous vision, while standing on a promontory of Vysehrad (which is directly on the river, to the south of Prague Castle) … it went like this “I see before me a large city, whose glory shall touch the stars. I see a spot above the river, where the brook Brusnice makes a bend. A steep cliff rises above it. When you come to the woods above this cliff, you will find a man there, cutting a threshold for his house. There you will build a castle and call it Praha (from Prah meaning threshold). And Just as people stoop when they enter a house, so will they bow to the city around my castle. It will be a noble one, respected by all the world!"

And here are my pics from the legendary beginnings of Prague.

The entrance to Vysehrad, called The Tabor Gate.

The layout of Vysehrad.  The legend of this place is very important to Czech’s, and the sign here says “Welcome to the ancient Vysehrad, the place of first Czech King’s Residence, where Premysl family castle used to stay, in the place full of myths and legends.”

Another gated entrance to the fortress, into the inner part if you will.  This section even has another wall.  This is the Leopold Gate.

See, another defensive wall.

This is St Martin’s Rotunda.  I learned that these circular churches had a very specific purpose back in Medieval times … to baptize the vast number of pagans being converted to Christianity.

What a lovely old forbidding door St. Martin’s Rotunda has!

The Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, the cathedral in Vysehrad.

Look at those doors!!  How colorful and fabulous they are!!!

The Czech National Cemetery, located at Vysehrad.  I learned that because the Czech value their culture so highly, the people buried here (in the NATIONAL cemetery) are artists – not politicians or military leaders.  Neat! 

There are more of those fabulous gravestones, like I found in Olsany!  I found out why too.  My teacher told me that in the mid 1800’s the Czech gov’t decided that there were enough statues about the city, and so basically put all the artisans out of work.  Well, the artisans needed to work didn’t they?!  So, they took their incredible talent to the dead instead!

  

I like the moss on this one, it looks “colored” almost.

This was is really different!

I love that this one has REAL wire attached to it, as well as ENGRAVED wire on it!

There were several of these arcades in the cemetery, presumable for people with more money!

Look at this ceiling, at the intersection of two of the above arcades … that BLUE is fabulous!

I saw this image on several graves, and I love the idea of this “angel of death” … hiding her face at the loss of another human, her wings spread wide, the body of the dead at her feet.  So evocative.

So, the ceilings INSIDE the arcades are even BETTER than the ones at the intersections!

This one is just stunning, with SO much art going on within it.  I am particularly drawn to the image above the statues’ head.

I mean … LOOK AT THAT … the color is divine, and the time it took to place those mosaic tiles must have been great.  Such a beautiful piece.

I really liked this grave too, with the garden pot on top of it – and the signature as well.

The spires of the Church of SS Peter and Paul, seen from the National Cemetery at Vysehrad.

A view looking up-river at Prague Castle.

A cool model of the bridges across the Vltava ... you can see the Charles Bridge on the right side, labeled Karluv Most, with the distinct shape and towers on the ends.

The door out onto the promontory at Vysehrad … where Libuse had her vision maybe.  Did I go out there you ask … OF COURSE I did silly!

The view looking to my right on the promontory

The view looking to my left on the promontory.

The view looking straight ahead on the promontory … and I freakin’ LOVE that you can camp, on the river with the fortress in your view!  How awesome is that?!?!

Another cool stone sign - this one a map of Vysehrad!

Libuse and Premsyl … the prophetess looking very sky-bound, while her ploughman husband (see the tools!) is looking most earth-bound.  A age-old symbolistic tale my teacher says … marriage of sky to earth, otherworldly to worldly.  Most excellent!

A slightly different angle of Libuse and Premsyl.

And that was my fabulous visit to the legendary beginnings of Praha! I hope you enjoyed your virtual tour.

From there I went to class, and then met Colleen for dinner at the Palladium mall. She had found a Lebanese place that serves hummus ... WOO HOO - - thanks girl! I've been searching for hummus since I got here. And it was YUMMY too ... and the falafel as well. Mmmm mmmm mmmm - - fresh pita too.

And that my friends, was my Monday.

Here is a link to the day’s photos on my Picasa page … Hark - - I said harken!