Staletá Praha 33, 2/2017, 74-93 | DOI: 10.56112/sp.2017.2.02

Revising the later building phases of the Church of the Virgin Mary at Prague Castle/Hradčany

Jana Maříková-Kubková, Iva Herichová

Archeologický ústav AV ČR, Praha, v. v. i.

The Church of the Virgin Mary at Prague Castle has repeatedly attracted deserved attention and its understanding is a key to the study of a fundamental break in the history of the Prague basin and of the whole of Bohemia. This break is represented by the adoption of Christianity and the formation of a centre of both ecclesiastical and political power at Prague Castle. Research has therefore mostly concentrated on the first building phase of the church, while the younger early Romanesque adaptation was ignored, although it bears a no less important message. We can connect these building activities with the erection of the Romanesque Basilica and the stabilization of Church institutions, and it perhaps even illustrates the contemporary perception of an older tradition. The detailed revision of the context of the find re-examines the older building, which from the 9th to the 11th century served as a burial chapel with a tomb, into which in the 10th century a grave was inserted.

Keywords: Hradčany - Prague Castle - Church of the Virgin Mary - reconstruction of the physical relief - early medieval architecture

Published: December 15, 2017