Point d’intérêt
Painted staircase of the Great Tower
The approach to the chapel, with painted cycles devoted to Saints Wenceslas and Ludmila.
Langue du contenu
The stairs leading to the Chapel of the Holy Cross retain medieval wall paintings. The decoration depicts scenes from the lives of St Wenceslas and St Ludmila, linking the approach to the imperial treasury with Bohemian saints. The staircase was inserted later, when the Great Tower’s purpose changed. Together with two vaulted rooms on the first floor, it had a ceremonial function associated with the chapel.
The surviving paintings date from the fourteenth century. Viewing them on a staircase differs from visiting a gallery: the pictures form part of the approach to a room for which the earlier residential layout was altered. In today’s chapels programme, the stairs follow architect Josef Mocker’s study and precede the Chapel of the Holy Cross. This section therefore leads to the historic treasury, rather than the upper viewpoint reached on a different tour.
Pour les enfants
Stairs with wall paintings lead to the chapel. The pictures show events in the lives of St Wenceslas and St Ludmila. They date from the fourteenth century and were painted on the walls, so they are not movable canvases hanging in a gallery.
The staircase was added when the tower’s purpose changed. Together with vaulted rooms below, it formed a ceremonial approach to the chapel. On the chapels tour, you use it after Josef Mocker’s study and before the Chapel of the Holy Cross. Climbing the stairs is part of seeing the medieval decoration.
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