Interior view
by PARLER, Peter, Photo
During the reign of Charles IV (king of Bohemia from 1346, emperor 1355–78) Prague was effectively a fixed capital of the German Empire. The foundation stone for the St. Vitus’s Cathedral was laid in 1344. The first architect was Mathieu d’Arras (1290-1352) who designed the ground plan for the choir and built part of the ambulatory and the radiating chapels. After his death the young Peter Parler (1330-1399) introduced truly modern architecture into the construction.
In the interior the elevation of the apse is based on that of Cologne Cathedral, but is of a simpler design, built on five (rather than seven) sides of a ten-sided polygon. The composition as a whole is dominated by vertical elements.
The picture shows the choir by Peter Parler.
View the ground plan of the choir, St. Vitus’s Cathedral, Prague.