Vysehrad: Myths, legends and the founding mythology of Bohemia

Every nation has a founding story. Rome has Romulus and Remus. Spain has Pelayo and Covadonga. The Czech Republic has a princess called Libuše, who stood on a rock above the river Vltava, gazed towards the horizon and prophesied: "I see a city whose glory shall touch the stars."

That rock is Vysehrad. The city she foretold is Prague.

The myth is not a children's tale. It is the narrative that has defined Czech national identity since the 9th century, the same one Smetana turned into music (the Má vlast cycle opens with Vyšehrad), the same one the leaders of the 19th-century Czech National Revival used to forge the idea of a people with their own history and their own future. Vysehrad is not merely an ancient fortress. It is the place where the nation was born in the collective imagination. To understand how these myths fit into the broader history and culture of the Czech Republic, read on.

This guide tells the myths and legends that make Vysehrad far more than a viewpoint overlooking the Vltava.

The legend of Princess Libuše and the founding of Prague

The story begins with the father. Krok was the wisest ruler of the Czech tribes, with three daughters of extraordinary gifts. The eldest was Kazi, a healer and herbalist. The middle daughter, Teta, was a priestess of the pagan gods. And the youngest, Libuše, was blessed with the gift of prophecy.

When Krok died, Libuše inherited power. She was a just and visionary ruler, but the Czech nobles rebelled against being governed by a woman. They demanded she marry and hand authority to a man.

Libuše did not yield without conditions. She summoned the nobles and told them she would choose her own husband. She entered a prophetic trance and gave her instructions: her messengers were to follow her father's white horse until it found a man ploughing with a pair of oxen. That man, even if he were a peasant, would become the prince.

The horse travelled to a field in the village of Stadice. The man's name was Přemysl, and from him came the Přemyslid dynasty, which ruled Bohemia for more than four centuries. Přemysl became a prince. Libuše became a queen.

And it was from the rocks of Vysehrad that Libuše, looking northward across the Vltava, spoke the prophecy: "I see a great city whose glory shall reach the stars. In the forest you see on the far bank of the river there is a place where the Vltava bends. There you will find a man shaping a threshold (práh). And in that place you shall build a city that will be called Praha."

The name Prague comes, according to the legend, from práh, meaning threshold. The city's name is the word of the prophecy.

The Maidens' War: the warrior women of Bohemia

The death of Libuše triggered one of the most extraordinary legends in Czech mythology: the Dívčí válka, the Maidens' War.

The maidens of Libuše's court rose up against the male power that followed the prophetess queen. Under the leadership of Vlasta, they built their own fortress (Děvín, "fortress of the maidens") opposite Vysehrad, on the other side of the Vltava, and declared war on the men of Bohemia.

What followed, according to the medieval chronicles of Cosmas of Prague (12th century), was a war of ambushes, deception and shifting fortunes. The most famous episode: the story of Šárka and Ctirad.

Šárka was the fiercest warrior among Vlasta's maidens. To trap the hero Ctirad, she tied herself to a tree in the forest, apparently abandoned, and waited for Ctirad's men to find her. Ctirad, believing he had found a helpless prisoner, untied her and fell in love with her. Šárka offered him wine mixed with honey and made him drink until he fell asleep. Then she blew a horn to summon the warriors hidden in the forest. Ctirad and his men were slaughtered.

Šárka's story gave its name to a valley northwest of Prague, Divoká Šárka, the wild Šárka, which remains a nature park just a few kilometres from the centre.

The war ended when the men of Bohemia attacked Děvín by night and killed Vlasta. Without their leader, the resistance dissolved. But the stories endured.

Bivoj: the strongest man in Bohemia

Before the story of Libuše, Czech mythology has Bivoj, the Bohemian equivalent of Hercules.

Bivoj was a hunter of prodigious strength. The best-known legend: he captured a ferociously dangerous wild boar, bound it, and carried it to Krok as a gift, bearing it on his own shoulders. In some versions, he killed the boar with his bare hands.

Bivoj is the figure in Czech mythology who represents brute strength, set against the wisdom of Libuše or the valour of the Přemyslid warriors. He appears as a secondary character in the medieval chronicles and in the 19th-century collections of Bohemian legends.

The devil and the column of Vysehrad

Vysehrad also has its Christian legend: the devil's column (čertův sloup).

According to tradition, a priest made a wager with the devil. If the devil could bring a marble column from Rome before the mass ended, the priest would surrender his soul. The devil accepted and flew to Rome to fetch the column.

But the priest prayed fervently and the angels delayed the devil's flight by every means possible, making him fall into the sea, drop the column, and search for it on the seabed. The mass ended before the devil arrived.

The devil, furious at his defeat, hurled the column at Vysehrad. It shattered into three pieces on impact.

And there they remain: three fragments of a white stone column in the gardens of Vysehrad, which travellers can see today. They are real, probably remnants of some medieval construction. But the legend is more interesting than the archaeology.

Vysehrad cemetery: the Czech national pantheon

If legend makes Vysehrad the mythical origin of the nation, the cemetery turns it into the nation's collective memory.

The Vysehrad cemetery is the burial place of the most important figures in Czech culture. It is not an ordinary cemetery; it is the Czech equivalent of the Pantheon in Paris or Père-Lachaise, only more intimate.

Buried here are:

• Bedřich Smetana, the composer who turned the legend of Libuše into opera and Vysehrad into symphony
• Antonín Dvořák, the composer of the New World Symphony
• Alfons Mucha, the artist of Bohemian Art Nouveau
• Karel Čapek, the writer who coined the word "robot"
• Jan Neruda, the poet who gave his name to the Malá Strana quarter (and who inspired Pablo Neruda's pen name)
• Mikoláš Aleš, painter of the Czech National Revival

The tombs of Smetana and Dvořák are the main point of pilgrimage. They stand together at the centre of the cemetery, in the section known as the "pantheon" (slavín).

Vysehrad and music: Má vlast

The connection between myth and music is direct and deliberate.

In 1874, Bedřich Smetana began to go deaf. During that period of loss, he composed his most ambitious work: the symphonic cycle Má vlast ("My Homeland"), six symphonic poems about Bohemia, its landscapes, its history and its legends.

The first is simply titled Vyšehrad. It opens with the harpist at Libuše's court. It depicts the glory of the fortress at its peak, the battles, the decline and the final silence. It ends with the chords of the ancient fortress fading away.

The second poem is Vltava, the musical portrait of the river that flows beneath Vysehrad, from its mountain springs all the way to Prague. It is the most famous Czech orchestral piece in the world.

Má vlast is performed every year in Prague on 12 May, the anniversary of Smetana's death, at the Prague Spring Festival, always in the same venue: the Smetana Hall of the Municipal House (Obecní dům), just steps from the meeting point of ODISEA's tours.

Frequently asked questions about the myths of Vysehrad

What is Vysehrad? Vysehrad is an ancient fortress south of Prague's historic centre, perched on a rocky promontory above the river Vltava. In Czech mythology, it is the place from which Princess Libuše prophesied the founding of Prague. Today it houses a basilica, a national cemetery and gardens with views over the river.

Who was Princess Libuše? Libuše is the founding figure of Czech mythology, a princess with prophetic powers who ruled Bohemia and chose Přemysl, a peasant, as her husband and first prince. From Vysehrad, she prophesied the founding of Prague. The Přemyslid dynasty she started ruled Bohemia for more than four centuries.

What is the Maidens' War? The Dívčí válka (Maidens' War) is a medieval Czech legend about the rebellion of the women of Libuše's court against the male power that followed her. The warriors, led by Vlasta, built their own fortress and fought the men of Bohemia. The legend includes the story of Šárka and Ctirad, one of the most elaborate tales of deception in Slavic mythology.

Who is buried at Vysehrad cemetery? Vysehrad cemetery is the Czech national pantheon. It holds the graves of Smetana, Dvořák, Mucha, Čapek, Neruda and other central figures of Bohemian culture.

What is the devil's column at Vysehrad? Three fragments of a white stone column in the gardens of Vysehrad, linked to the legend of a priest who made a wager with the devil. According to tradition, the devil hurled the column at Vysehrad when he lost the bet. The physical remains are real, probably medieval stone of unknown origin.

What is Smetana's Má vlast? Má vlast ("My Homeland") is a cycle of six symphonic poems by Bedřich Smetana, composed between 1874 and 1879. The first describes Vysehrad and the legend of Libuše; the second, the river Vltava. It is the most internationally renowned Czech orchestral work.

To visit Vysehrad in person: Vysehrad: Prague's secret fortress, with practical information on how to get there, what to see and how much time you need. And if you want to discover these legends with a guide who tells them in person, book your free walking tour.