Since its founding in 925 by Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, the site of St. Vitus’ Cathedral has been the burial place of Czech rulers. During the fourteenth century, the tenth-century structure was rebuilt. In December of 1373, by order of the emperor and King Charles IV, the remains buried in old St. (...)
Since its founding in 925 by Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, the site of St. Vitus’ Cathedral has been the burial place of Czech rulers. During the fourteenth century, the tenth-century structure was rebuilt. In December of 1373, by order of the emperor and King Charles IV, the remains buried in old St. Vitus were exhumed and reburied in the new cathedral, which at that time was still under construction.
Several of the tombs and figural markers from the first cathedral still survive in the eastern most chapels of the present structure. While some of the tombs have undergone conservation efforts and archaeological explorations over the last 30 years, the tombs of Bohemian Prince Bretislaus II (r. 1092–1100) and his half-brother Prince Borivoj II (r. 1100–1107, 1117–1120) in the Chapel of St. John the Baptist were not touched. Both of these tombs are believed to have come from the workshop of Peter Parler, a fourteenth-century German architect and sculptor also believed to be responsible for the design of the cathedral.
