We take the tram for two stations from Strahov Monastery to the major attractions for the day, the Prague castle complex. It is a huge complex with many attractions and first we need to find the entrance. Luckily it is well marked and we cross the protective bridge towards the interior of the castle.
It takes a bit to find the ticket office which is supposed to be very busy. It is not, at least today which makes us quite happy. We buy a combo ticket and then it is time to find and enter the first attraction, St Vitus Cathedral.
The main entrance door is closed but you can easily find the actual entrance into the cathedral. Likely the door is closed to better see the beautiful decorations both wood and stone, which are impressive.
Saint Vitus church was founded in 930 AD around a relic from St Vitus. The current Gothic cathedral was built on the site of the ancient church starting in 1344 and it is quite huge and impressive. Interestingly it was finished only in 1929 almost 600 years after it started after many starts and stops due to deaths or lack of funds.
There are many interesting details, we especially like the stained glass windows and the beautiful rosette high up, almost out of sight.
We continue exploring the church, there is a clear circut you can take and we follow it throughout the cathedral admiring the windows and other details along the way.
Interestingly you can walk behind the altar to see the chapels at the back of the church and the tombs that are located here.
The most famous tomb here is that of John of Nepomuk which is known as the saint of Bohemia (Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia. Catholics see John of Nepomuk as a martyr to the cause of defending the Seal of the Confessional. Romantic nationalists regard him as a Czech martyr to imperial interference. So he is important to lots of people for different reasons and the tomb is quite photographed by every tourists passing it.
And then we are out and are able to find a few more good vantage points of the cathedral as we make our way to the old Royal Palace rooms, the next objective on our combo ticket.
