Saints Peter and Paul Rotunda, Starý Plzenec, Czech Republic

Pre-Romanesque Rotunda of Saints Peter and Paul dates from the late 10th century and is the oldest preserved sacral structure in Czech Republic. The first mention of the rotunda dates from 976. It collapsed in the 15th century, but was restored later. Inside the rotunda there is an exhibition of archaeological finds.

User Reviews

Alma Šťáhlavská (2 years ago)
Rotunda pochází z 10 století a zřejmě je nejstarší stojící stavbou v západních Čechách. Rotunda byla několikrát opravovaná. Současný stav je výsledkem průzkumu a oprav z r. 1975. Okna jsou zasklena hutním sklem. Podlaha je osazena kopiemi původních dlaždic s Neronem a gryfy. Střecha je břidlicová a původní železný kříž na vrchu střechy byl nahrazen symbolem čtyř spojených slovanských sekyrek. Poslední oprava vnějšího pláště rotundy byla uskutečněna v roce 2008.

Anton Zhuchkov (2 years ago)
Nice place

Zdeněk Šilhán (2 years ago)
Beautiful place, with nice historical path. Only sad thing is you can't look inside.

Michał Różycki (2 years ago)
Picturesque place with beautiful view and spirit of history - worth to visit if you are in Pilsen area.

Ivo Maryška (3 years ago)
One of the oldest christian buildings in the region, it hides some ancient historic gems as well as shows origins of christian culture mixed with pagan influences - such as original floor cobbles depicting cesar Nero. The place is mystical, offers wonderful views over the nearby town of Stary Plzenec. A few steps away you find restored foundations of the midevil administration seat of Old Pilsen, dating to 10th century.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright oxfordblues84

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The famous Italian Medici family have given two queens to France: Catherine, the spouse of Henry II, and Marie, widow of Henry IV, who built the current Luxembourg palace. Maria di Medici had never been happy at the Louvre, still semi-medieval, where the fickle king, did not hesitate to receive his mistresses. The death of Henry IV, assassinated in 1610, left the way open for Marie's project. When she became regent, she was able to give special attention to the construction of an imposing modern residence that would be reminiscent of the Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens in Florence, where she grew up. The development of the 25-hectare park, which was to serve as a jewel-case for the palace, began immediately.

The architect, Salomon de Brosse, began the work in 1615. Only 16 years later was the palace was completed. Palace of Luxembourg affords a transition between the Renaissance and the Classical period.

In 1750, the Director of the King's Buildings installed in the wing the first public art-gallery in France, in which French and foreign canvases of the royal collections are shown. The Count of Provence and future Louis XVIII, who was living in Petit Luxembourg, had this gallery closed in 1780: leaving to emigrate, he fled from the palace in June 1791.

During the French Revolution the palace was first abandoned and then moved as a national prison. After that it was the seat of the French Directory, and in 1799, the home of the Sénat conservateur and the first residence of Napoleon Bonaparte, as First Consul of the French Republic. The old apartments of Maria di Medici were altered. The floor, which the 80 senators only occupied in 1804, was built in the middle of the present Conference Hall.

Beginning in 1835 the architect Alphonse de Gisors added a new garden wing parallel to the old corps de logis, replicating the look of the original 17th-century facade so precisely that it is difficult to distinguish at first glance the old from the new. The new senate chamber was located in what would have been the courtyard area in-between.

The new wing included a library (bibliothèque) with a cycle of paintings (1845–1847) by Eugène Delacroix. In the 1850s, at the request of Emperor Napoleon III, Gisors created the highly decorated Salle des Conférences, which influenced the nature of subsequent official interiors of the Second Empire, including those of the Palais Garnier.

During the German occupation of Paris (1940–1944), Hermann Göring took over the palace as the headquarters of the Luftwaffe in France, taking for himself a sumptuous suite of rooms to accommodate his visits to the French capital. Since 1958 the Luxembourg palace has been the seat of the French Senate of the Fifth Republic.

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