Kostel Panny Marie (Praha) Church

Welcome to one of the most secret and important places of Prague Chateau. Please stop for a moment and feel the space around you. You are standing in a passageway where you are welcomed behind glass windows by the remains of the building, which at first glance may look inconspicuous, but it is absolutely essential for the history of our countries. What you see before you are the remains of the Church of Our Lady. It is a place where the silence of the present day meets echoes from a time when the heart of an early Czech state was warm. Look carefully through the glass at the stone fragments. You may see only the old masonry in them, but you're actually looking at the oldest preserved sacral structure in the territory of today's chateau.

Let us now return together in time more than a thousand years back, to the end of the ninth century. Imagine Prague at the time. It was not a big city as we know it today, but a fort that gradually became the center of power. It was in the years eight hundred and eighty-two to eight hundred and eighty-four that Prince Bořivoj first built this temple. Bořivoj moved here from a place called Left Hradec and brought with him a new faith. This church wasn't just a building, it was a symbol. It was the first temple in Prague and was the beginning of Christianity in Prague's chateau. At that time, it was a bold and fundamental change that changed the course of our cultural and spiritual development forever.

Now pay attention to what you can see in the details. If you look at the material from which the remains of the building are built, you will notice light grey stones. It's an emergency. Opuka was the favourite building material at the time because of its availability and workability. Originally it was a very simple, small longitudinal structure. Imagine it as a modest, narrow space, which, in contrast to today's monumental cathedrals, seemed very intimate. In the eleventh century, however, the church undergone a great change. It was converted to a much larger structure. At that time there were added new elements, such as the apsida, the semi-circular ending of the altar part, and a new altar was introduced. Even if you see only fragments today, try to reconstruct the feeling in your mind when you entered this space at the time, which was the most important spiritual centre of the chateau.

With this place are the names we know from history textbooks, but here they have their specific, tangible meaning. In addition to the founder of Bořivov's first church, other personalities of the prince's family join the church. One of them was Spytirrtle first. In the year nine hundred and fifteen he was buried here and thus this church became an important burial ground for the first Czech princes. Imagine you are in the early Middle Ages and this place serves as the last resting place of the most powerful men in the country. In this quiet space, not only faith, but political legitimacy and dynasty memory concentrated. In connection with this place is also the first name of Václav, which only underlines how deep this church is rooted in the history of our first rulers.

Now you might wonder why we don't see the whole church today, but only the remains behind the glass. History is sometimes cruel, and the buildings that were once the center of the world can die. The Church of the Virgin Mary has gradually lost its meaning and has disappeared completely in the 13th century, probably replaced by more recent and more representative buildings of the chateau complex. For centuries he remained hidden underground, forgotten and covered with layers of time and new buildings. It was not until the year one thousand nine hundred fifty-eight that the presentation of these remnants behind the glass windows began so that this hidden treasure could see the world again. It is a fascinating idea that under our feet in the passages of Prague Chateau is a millennium of history that is now revealed to us only in a small section.

The interesting thing that can help you see the importance of this place is the fact that it is an absolute beginning. If you look at the blocks, you don't just see the stone, but you see the first stone of Christian Prague. It is a place where the old world met with a new world, where the traditions of pre-Christian times mixed with a new faith coming from Europe. It's a kind of historical anchor that connects us to the very beginnings of our city. Imagine the contrast between today's noisy centre of Prague and the silence of this small, longitudinal temple in which the first Czech princes prayed.

Now, before we say good-bye and you go on, I suggest you go around the glass case one more time and watch the texture of the leaf stone from different angles. Try to remember how many generations of people have passed this place without knowing that deep beneath them lies the foundations of the first temple of Prague. This monument teaches us that the most important may not always be the greatest or the most visible. Sometimes it's the smallest fragments, the modest remnants of the masonry that tell the greatest stories.

Thank you for letting me take you to this special place. I hope you have felt the atmosphere of the early Middle Ages and that these remnants of the Church of Our Lady are now speaking in a clearer voice. Now I invite you to explore Prague Chateau again. Please continue your journey and look for other traces of history that are hidden in every stone of this chateau complex. I wish you a pleasant ongoing tour and many new discoveries. Goodbye.