Cathedrals in Czech Republic
St. Nicholas Cathedral
The Cathedral of St Nicholas is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in České Budějovice. The foundation stone of the parish church was laid around 1265, shortly after the founding of the city. The church of St Nicholas was consecrated in 1297, although it was still incomplete at the time. The completion of the main building probably occurred sometime around the mid 14th century. The original Gothic church ...St. Vitus Cathedral
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saints Vitus, Wenceslaus and Adalbert is the seat of the Archbishop of Prague. Up to 1997, the cathedral was dedicated only to Saint Vitus, and is still commonly named only as St. Vitus Cathedral. This cathedral is an excellent example of Gothic architecture and is the biggest and most important church in Czech Republic. Located within Prague Castle and containing the tombs of many Bohemian ...St. Bartholomew Cathedral
The cathedral of St. Bartholomew is a Gothic church located on the Main Square in Plzeň. It was probably established together with the city around the year 1295. The church became a cathedral in 1993, when the Pilsner diocese was created. The exact date of the start of its construction is not known, but the oldest extant allusion comes from the year 1307, when the townsman Wolfram Zwinillinger bequeathed the malt an ...Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul
The Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul is one of the dominating features of the city of Brno. The origins of the church on Petrov dates back to the 1170s. In the Gothic period the church was rebuilt several times. In one of the reconstructions, around 1500, the original consecration to St. Peter was added to by the consecration to St. Paul. In 1296 a collegiate chapter was established at the church. During the Thirty Years&r ...St. Wenceslas Cathedral
Saint Wenceslas Cathedral is a neo-gothic cathedral in Olomouc. The square was named after Saint Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia on the thousandth anniversary of his death in 1935. The cathedral is also named after him. The cathedral began in the Romanesque style and was consecrated in 1131. Extensive Gothic modifications were made in 13th and 14th century. Czech king Wenceslaus III of Bohemia was murdered in a nearby hous ...St. Stephen's Cathedral
The St. Stephen's Cathedral is one of the most important cultural sites in the city. It is protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic. Located on a hill in the place of an older church (originally a basilica) The temple was built in Romanesque style in 1057 and rebuilt in the 14th century in the Gothic style. In the presbytery is a large altar dedicated to St. Stephen, patron of the cathedral. In the ...Cathedral of the Divine Saviour
Cathedral of the Divine Saviour, located in the center of Ostrava, is the second largest Roman Catholic cathedral in Moravia and Silesia. This three-nave Neo-Renaissance basilica with a semi-circular apse and two 67m high towers dates from 1889 (building started in 1883). The church was designed by Gustav Meretta, the official architect of the Archbishop of Olomouc, and the interior by Max von Ferstel. The main nave is 1 ...Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings
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Goseck Circle
The Goseck circle is a Neolithic circle structure. It may be the oldest and best known of the Circular Enclosures associated with the Central European Neolithic. It also may be one of the oldest Solar observatories in the world. It consists of a set of concentric ditches 75 metres across and two palisade rings containing gates in places aligned with sunrise and sunset on the solstice days.
Its construction is dated to c. 4900 BC, and it seems to have remained in use until 4600 BC. This corresponds to the transitional phase between the Neolithic Linear Pottery and Stroke-ornamented ware cultures. It is one of a larger group of so-called Circular Enclosures in the Elbe and Danube region, most of which show similar alignments.
Excavators also found the remains of what may have been ritual fires, animal and human bones, and a headless skeleton near the southeastern gate, that could be interpreted as traces of human sacrifice or specific burial ritual. There is no sign of fire or of other destruction, so why the site was abandoned is unknown. Later villagers built a defensive moat following the ditches of the old enclosure.
The Goseck ring is one of the best preserved and extensively investigated of the many similar structures built at around the same time. Traces of the original configuration reveal that the Goseck ring consisted of four concentric circles, a mound, a ditch, and two wooden palisades. The palisades had three sets of gates facing southeast, southwest, and north. At the winter solstice, observers at the center would have seen the sun rise and set through the southeast and southwest gates.
Archaeologists generally agree that Goseck circle was used for observation of the course of the Sun in the course of the solar year. Together with calendar calculations, it allowed coordinating an easily judged lunar calendar with the more demanding measurements of a solar calendar.