Foundation work of Charles IV ****************************************************************************************** * ****************************************************************************************** By Jan Boukal  These days, the era of Charles IV primarily speaks to us via buildings founded by the famo Luxembourgian dynasty. Especially the buildings in old parts of Prague have become immorta this King of Bohemia. First and foremost, St. Vitus’s Cathedral at the Prague Castle immed mind; however, its construction had already started in 1344, i.e. in the very end of the r father John. Yet it was under Charles’s rule that the cathedral was given its form, inspir French buildings, thanks to Matthias of Arras and Peter Parler. The cathedral wasn’t finis Charles’s life, though; the final touches to its current form were put as late as 1929. Th Castle was reconstructed during Charles’s reign, as it wasn’t fit for the Bohemian King an to have the castle in the heart of his kingdom “brought down to the ground,” as it had bee youth. In 1357, near the former St. Clemons’s Monastery, Charles laid a foundation stone of the n across the Vltava River, to replace the wooden bridge connecting the Lesser Town and the O wooden bridge was a temporary replacement of Judith’s Bridge that had been destroyed by a middle ages, the new bridge did not bear Charles’s name yet; it was simply called the Ston The most important foundation work of Charles IV in Prague was no doubt the New Town, one areas built in the Luxembourgian era. The area of the New Town surrounded the whole Old To ramparts connected to the Vyšehrad Castle in the south. Also Vyšehrad was reconstructed by his Přemyslid legacy very seriously. The New Town area was about 360 hectares, with two ce Cattle Market (current Charles Square) and Horse Market (Wenceslas Square). With the sheer and gates, and the number of churches, the New Town came close to the center of the Christ Charles is also famous for his foundation of castles; most of them bore, or still bears, h include Karlsburg (Tepenec in Moravia), Karlskrone (Radyně near Pilsen), Karlsberg (Kašper Mountains), Karlshaus (Hrádek near Purkrarec) or a small customs castle of Karlsfried. Cha initiated the major reconstruction of the ancient castle of Oybin near Zittau, with a new Celestine monastery. Yet all these castles were outshined by Karlštejn, one of the most famous Czech castles ev architectural point of view, the castle was very outdated, and also built rather unsuitabl of safety, as all surrounding hills were higher, making Karlštejn an easy prey for potenti In fact, the seemingly ancient form was Charles’s way to honor the traditions of the Přemy architecture. Even though Karlštejn was originally probably intended as a place of contemp king, it became the place to store Czech and Imperial coronation jewels and sacred relics, seat of the chapter founded by Charles. We can’t forget Charles’s foundation work outside the limits of the Bohemian Kingdom eithe Nuremberg, on the island in the middle of Pegnitz River, Charles founded the Wenzelsburg C many previous times, he hereby honored the Přemyslid legacy, this time by naming the castl important Bohemian saint. So far, the most magnificent room in the castle is the hall deco crests of the representatives of the royal castle and important towns. In his last years, building the new Luxembourgian seat in Tangermünde, Brandenburg. He made a major reconstru castle, planning to found a new chapter in its premises. The castle palace was richly deco yet we can but read of them these days as much of the castle hasn’t been preserved. These days, the projects founded by Charles IV aren’t mere monuments of the famous soverei tourist attractions admired by visitors from all over the world. They are primarily Charle future generations, as part of the landscape, culture and identity. Bibliography: BOBKOVÁ, Lenka. Hrady Karla IV. v Laufu a Tangermünde. Panovnická reprezentace vepsaná do Martin – SOMMER, Petr – DOLEŽALOVÁ, Eva (eds.).Verba in imaginibus: Františku Šmahelovi k Praha: Argo, 2004, s. 141–157. KUBÍNOVÁ, Kateřina. Imitatio Romae – Karel IV. a Řím. Praha: Artefactum, 2006. ŠMAHEL, František – BOBKOVÁ, Lenka. Lucemburkové. Česká koruna uprostřed Evropy. Praha: NL