Rotunda of St Martin - Prague, Czech Republic
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ToRo61
N 50° 03.817 E 014° 25.297
33U E 458604 N 5545863
The rotunda of St Martin is the largest preserved rotunda in Prague. It was built in the second half of the 11th century
Waymark Code: WM163ZR
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 04/29/2022
Views: 12
The land where Prague was to be built has been settled since the Paleolithic Age. From around 500 B.C.E. the Celtic tribe known as the "Boii" were the first documented inhabitants of this region, who named the region Bohemia. On the territory of Prague, you can find building monuments from the Romanesque period through the Middle Ages and the Early modern era to the present day. One of the buildings in the Romanesque style is the Rotunda of St. Martin, located on the mythical Vyšehrad Heights in the southern part of Prague.
"The rotunda was built in the 2nd half of the 11th century, and it was turned into gun powder storage when the fortress was established. In 1841 it was threatened by the planned communication between the New Town and Pankrác, but count Karel Chotek managed to preserve the Romanic rotunda. In 1875 it was purchased by the Vyšehrad canonry and was restored according to a project of architect Antonín Baum. Antonín König and Jan Herman painted the interior wall paintings, and František Sequens painted the altar painting. Today’s appearance is the result of several repairs. The rotunda’s internal diameter is 650 cm; the apse is 220 cm deep, and the walls are 95 – 97 cm thick. Above the portal created in a pseudo-Romanic style, there is a canon ball walled in to commemorate the Prussian siege of Prague in 1757. The entrance was originally to the West. The rotunda has a so called lantern on the roof, edged with a gold-plated cross with a half-moon and the sun."
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