St. Wenceslas Chapel
The burial place of St. Wenceslas.
St. Wenceslas → Plan a trip hereThe Story
The St. Wenceslas Chapel in St. Vitus Cathedral, at the heart of Prague Castle, is the spiritual center of the Czech nation: a jewel-encrusted Gothic shrine built over the tomb of St. Wenceslas, the martyred duke of Bohemia known to the world through the carol 'Good King Wenceslas.' Wenceslas was born around 907 and raised in the Christian faith by his grandmother, St. Ludmila, herself a martyr. As duke of Bohemia he was remembered for personal piety, care for the poor, and the spread of the faith in his lands. According to the traditional account, he was assassinated at the church door in Stara Boleslav around 935 in a plot led by his brother Boleslav. Venerated as a martyr almost immediately, his relics were translated to the Rotunda of St. Vitus in Prague, the church he himself had founded — and every later church on the site, including the present cathedral, has kept his tomb in the same venerated place. The present chapel was raised over the tomb by Peter Parler in the fourteenth century at the command of Emperor Charles IV and consecrated in 1367. Its walls are set with more than a thousand polished semi-precious stones and painted with scenes of Christ's Passion and the saint's life, marking it as the most sacred space in the cathedral. A door in the chapel leads to the chamber where the Bohemian crown jewels are kept, secured behind seven locks — for the crown of the kingdom was placed under the protection of the saint himself. St. Wenceslas remains the principal patron of the Czech people, and his feast on September 28 is the Czech national day of statehood. Pilgrims who look into the chapel from its doorway stand before eleven centuries of unbroken veneration of a ruler who, tradition holds, preferred the Kingdom of God to the politics of power.
Church Recognition
St. Wenceslas has been venerated as a martyr since the tenth century and is the principal patron of the Czech nation; his tomb in the cathedral chapel consecrated in 1367 has remained a site of continuous, Church-sanctioned veneration, and his feast on September 28 is on the General Roman Calendar.
Catholic Teaching
The chapel expresses the Church's veneration of the martyrs, whose witness unto death is the supreme testimony to the truth of the faith (CCC 2473-2474), and the communion of saints by which the faithful on earth ask the intercession of those in glory (CCC 946-962).
Plan Your Visit
Practical
Additional Information
Visitors to St. Vitus Cathedral view the chapel and the saint's tomb from its entrance, as the interior is opened only on special occasions; the feast of St. Wenceslas on September 28, a Czech national holiday, is marked by celebrations in Prague and a national pilgrimage to Stara Boleslav, the place of his martyrdom.
Go Deeper
See the cathedral's official website at https://www.katedralasvatehovita.cz, read the early medieval legends of St. Wenceslas and St. Ludmila for the traditional accounts, and consult the Catechism on martyrdom and the communion of saints (CCC 2473-2474; 946-962).
Location
Visit the official website ↗ See it on the interactive map →Pilgrim Photos
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In the Area
Other sacred sites within 40 miles.