Prague Castle

A view of Prague Castle belongs to the most breathtaking panoramas. One of the largest castle compounds in the world consists of historic palaces, church buildings, gardens and picturesque recesses. Prague Castle has been a symbol of the Czech state for more than one thousand years. It was founded in the 9th century and became the seat of Czech kings and later presidents. According to the Guiness Book of Records, Prague Castle is the largest ancient castle in the world. The castle also includes St. Vitus Cathedral, a traditional place of coronation of Czech kings and the place where they were buried. Originally, the name “Prague” especially related to the rocky projection with a fortified settlement of the prince, but it also started to mark the surrounding settlement, too. The settlement in its west field received the name “Hradčany” according to Prague Castle (“hrad”). In the first half of the 14th century it became a subject town, later a royal town falling under the administration of the Prague Castle burgrave. Today, Hradčany is a name of a quarter of Prague, which, besides the historic town, includes the Prague Castle territory, too.