Karlštejn Founded

JAN 01 1348 · 12:00

Karlštejn Castle, the imperial treasury for the Bohemian and Holy Roman regalia, on its limestone spur above the Berounka. Place: A limestone spur above the Berounka valley, thirty kilometers southwest of Prague Figures: Charles IV · Arnošt of Pardubice, archbishop (lays the cornerstone) · Matthias of Arras, master builder (initial design) · Petr Parléř (later, the Chapel of the Holy Cross) · Master Theodoric, panel painter Karlštejn is the third great foundation of Charles's miracle year. The university opens in April, the New Town in March, the Karlštejn cornerstone is laid on June 10. The site is a limestone outcrop above the Berounka, defensible on three sides and a day's ride from Prague. It is conceived from the beginning not as a residence but as a treasury. Charles is consolidating the relics and regalia of his empire and they need a vault. Three towers rise in stepped sequence up the ridge, theologically as well as physically: the residential Imperial Palace at the foot, the Marian Tower (with the Church of the Virgin and a private chapel of St Catherine) in the middle, and at the summit the Great Tower with the Chapel of the Holy Cross. The whole castle is a reliquary translated into stone.