Basilica of St Peter and St Paul
Twin 58-meter towers mark Vyšehrad hill — you can pick them out from the Vltava River before you ever make the climb.
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Founded in the 1070s by King Vratislaus II, fire-damaged, rebuilt Gothic, then rebuilt again neo-Gothic between 1887 and 1903 — the church carries a thousand years of revision. Directly behind it, Vyšehrad cemetery holds the graves of Antonín Dvořák and Karel Čapek.
What to look for
- Stone mosaic above the main entry portal
- The tympanum carving over the main door: archangel Michael standing between people ushered to heaven and people bent under sin
- Graves of Dvořák and Čapek in Vyšehrad cemetery immediately behind the church
Inside Vyšehrad fortress on a hill south of the city center — budget time for the cemetery walk after the church.
Basilica of St Peter and St Paul is one of 36 sights worth the detour in Prague, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Prague pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Prague
- Prague CastleThe Guinness-record largest ancient castle on Earth — and the Czech president still works inside it.
- Charles BridgeCzech legend holds that Charles IV chose his construction start time — 5:31am on 9 July 1357 — because the digits form a palindrome he believed would imbue the bridge with additional strength.
- St. Vitus CathedralOne theory holds that the founding duke may have chosen St. Vitus partly because his name echoes a Slavic sun god — making conversion easier for a populace already devoted to the solar deity Svantevit. Christian and pagan communities shared this hilltop until at least the 11th century.
- Dancing HouseTwo interlocked towers shaped like mid-dance partners, built on a Vltava riverfront plot that sat bombed-out and derelict for decades.
- Prague Astronomical ClockEvery hour, a skeleton marks the time — on a clock mechanism that has been running since 1410.
- National Museum in PragueThe building that closes off Wenceslas Square has anchored Czech protests, rallies, and public life since 1891.