Vyšehrad

The earliest documented fortification at Vyšehrad dates to around 870 AD, on a rocky promontory above the Vltava that Czech legend independently identifies as the seat of the earliest Přemyslid rulers and the site from which Princess Libuše foresaw the founding of Prague. The fortress rose to genuine political importance in the 11th century under Vratislaus II, who made it his preferred seat over Prague Castle, building the Romanesque Rotunda of St Martin around 1070 and founding the Basilica of St Peter and Paul in the same period — both of which survive today, though much altered.

Vyšehrad's status as a royal seat declined in subsequent centuries as Prague Castle reasserted its primacy, and the medieval fortifications fell into disrepair through the Hussite wars and the Thirty Years' War. The site's character changed entirely in 1654, when the Habsburg Empire began rebuilding the entire promontory as a star-shaped Baroque military fortress, a project that continued until 1727 and buried much of the surviving medieval fabric beneath new brick ramparts, bastions and underground Casemates designed for artillery storage and defence.

The fortress's modern significance was sealed in 1869 with the opening of the Vyšehrad Cemetery as Prague's National Cemetery, intended as the resting place for the most distinguished figures of Czech cultural and intellectual life. Antonín Dvořák, Bedřich Smetana, Alphonse Mucha, Jan Neruda and Karel Čapek are among those buried there, alongside the Slavín monument, a collective tomb for 50 celebrated Czechs completed in 1893. Vyšehrad today functions as a public park and historic monument managed by the city of Prague, with its military Casemates and Gorlice Gallery open as a paid attraction within an otherwise free and unrestricted public space.

Getting there: Take Metro line C to Vyšehrad station, two stops from Wenceslas Square, followed by a five-minute walk to the Táborská Gate entrance. The fortress sits on the opposite bank of the Vltava from Prague Castle, making it an easy half-day addition to a Prague itinerary without retracing your steps through the city centre.

What's free and what isn't: The fortress grounds, ramparts, basilica exterior, Devil's Column and the National Cemetery are all freely accessible with no admission charge and no fixed closing time. The Casemates and Gorlice Gallery, housing four original Charles Bridge sculptures, require a separate ticket of around €4. Allow 1.5 to 2 hours for a thorough visit, more if you want to read every grave inscription in the cemetery.

The guided option: For visitors who want context beyond what the on-site information boards provide, a specialist guided tour focusing on Vyšehrad's hidden history is available and ranks among the highest-rated Prague tours on GetYourGuide — useful for untangling the layered Přemyslid, Habsburg and 19th-century National Revival histories that overlap on this single hill. Because Vyšehrad is a genuine public park rather than a managed tourist attraction, locals walk dogs and eat lunch here daily, giving the whole site an unpretentious, lived-in character that Prague Castle, with its queues and gift shops, cannot match.