Vysehrad

I wish I could say my passion for Dvorak and Smetana, two of whose works the Prague Symphony Orchestra performed last night at Municipal House, led me to the cemetery at Vysehrad, but that would be a lie.  Cemeteries obsess me.  Especially ones with gates like this.

A directory near the entrance makes it easy to find the graves of dozens of Czech cultural and political figures.

 Unless like Mucha's, they're located in a crypt.

Interestingly, Vysehrad is free of Communists but home to excess.

Though small, the cemetery boasts an remarkable variety of headstones and monuments.  Photographing as many as I could finally exhausted the space on my memory card.

 

The Capitular Church of Peter and Paul, with its ornate doors, borders the cemetery.

There's more to Vysehrad than dead people, although I have no idea what this sign inside the Tabor Gate means.

The perimeter of the fortress, built in the tenth century, affords expansive views of the city in all directions.

The tram I had taken looked like a toy below.

The Leopold Gate provided the perfect crown.

I wasn't the only visitor wearing a crown.  These young Czech women fashioned one from flowers before allowing me to take their picture.

There's plenty to see inside the fortress, too.

 

Here's St. Sebastian.