Archaeologist: The medieval church at Vyšehrad was probably never completed

Prague - New findings from the last two archaeological surveys at Vyšehrad in Prague will be summarized in a publication for both professional and lay audiences. In 2018, archaeologists examined the remains of a church from the 10th to 11th century near the Vyšehrad Basilica of St. Lawrence, which they believe was probably never completed. During the second survey, they discovered evidence of an early medieval workshop for the production of gold and silver. This year, there should be a conference in Prague dedicated to the topic of royal residences. This was stated in an interview with ČTK by archaeologist and Egyptologist Ladislav Varadzin from the Archaeological Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

The greatest attention was drawn to the discovery of the remains of the church dated to the years 950 to 1050. Experts stumbled upon its southern apse in 2011, and three years later, they discovered the eastern apse; the last phase of the field study took place two years ago. "We have finds that show that the construction was probably not completed. It only reached the level of the foundations. Then the project was put on hold, and the foundation walls were deliberately preserved with a layer of mortar. With the intention that the construction would one day continue, which, however, never happened," said the archaeologist.

According to the archaeologists, the extensive floor plan has no comparison throughout the territory of the Western Slavs, and there are no written records about it, just as there is none about its possible builder. However, experts believe that it was likely one of the rulers.

Some valuable data, according to Varadzin, was lost in the early 20th century when contemporary archaeologists discovered masonry that they could not interpret. "They only found a part, while we found the rest, of which they were unaware. The research method of that time led them to dig around the masonry, severing its connection with archaeological terrains. As a result, important connections for us between various sources of information were lost, for example, concerning the age or function of the masonry," Varadzin pointed out.

Varadzin noted that this year Vyšehrad is celebrating a significant anniversary. "This year marks the 950th anniversary of the mention of the foundation of the chapter church. It is the first record of the activity of Vratislav II, the first Czech king, at Vyšehrad, where he began to build his residence," said the archaeologist. It is precisely on this occasion that an international conference on royal residences in Europe is expected to take place in August. "If the coronavirus does not prevent us, the best experts on this topic from various countries will gather here," the archaeologist emphasized. "We will compare the results of our research, looking for whether these residences have any common denominator, how such a residence of an early medieval Christian ruler should look," said Varadzin.

He added that no research was planned at Vyšehrad for this year. "We are processing the results of two intensive research campaigns and preparing them for publication for both professional and the general public," said the archaeologist, who has been working at Vyšehrad since 2003.

According to Varadzin, a professional publication on the Vyšehrad surveys should be released next year, and a book for the wider public will be available by 2022 at the latest.