Photos

In my last two posts Vysehrad and Vysehrad Fortress I asked the question, what makes Vysehrad so important in Czech history, although it looks like a normal and rather uninteresting Baroque fortress at the first glance. The cause of Vysehrad's fame is the woman in the photo: Princess Libuse -- the mythical founder of the Premyslids, the first Bohemian royal dynasty.

Legends about the Princess Libuse and his husband Premysl (the sitting man in the statue) first appeared in 11th century and since then they became a firm part of the Czech culture. You can find them in many literary works, art works, films and even music (e.g. Bedrich Smetana's opera Libuse, or symphonic poem Ma Vlast - Vysehrad). Simply put, Vysehrad, Libuse and Premysl have in the Czech culture the same place as Camelot, Merlin and King Arthur in Britain.

However, is Vysehrad really so old? Did the Princess Libuse and another first Premyslids really live here? I'll tell you next time.

Today's photo shows a statue of the Princess Libuse and the Prince Premysl created of sandstone by Josef Vaclav Myslbek in 1881-1895. The monumental sculpture was originally designed along with three others depicting persons from the Czech mythology for the Palacky Bridge. After they were damaged by the bombardment of Prague in 1945, they was repaired and moved to Vysehrad park. Unfortunately, except the one in the photo. Its damage was too serious and we can now see its copy only.