EN Our Lady of the Ramparts

Vyšehrad is famous not only for its Gothic icon of Our Lady of the Rain. In addition to this icon the basilica also houses the precious sculpture of Virgin Mary called “Šancovská” (“of the Ramparts”).

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This polychrome wooden statue shows Virgin Mary standing with the Child Jesus on her left arm. They both wear a crown made from gilded silver sheet metal. Mary holds a gilded royal scepter in her right hand, while Jesus has his right hand raised in blessing and holds the royal apple with a small cross on it in his left hand.

Presumably in 1725 a Bavarian journeyman mason Michal Hoch had the statue made by the carver Simon Thaler and placed it in the deconsecrated church of Beheading of St John the Baptist, partially built into the ramparts of Vyšehrad. Soon afterwards, people who came to the Mother of God and prayed to her for intercession began to experience miraculous healing. In 1764, the statue of Virgin Mary was placed in a newly built chapel. This chapel, located in front of the church of Beheading of St John the Baptist, was closed during the reign of Emperor Joseph II (1780–1790).

Thus the statue has been moved to a chapel originally dedicated to St Anna, adjacent to the south side of the choir in the Collegiate Church of St Peter and St Paul. The chapel was renamed the chapel of Our Lady of the Ramparts.

After 1887, the chapel of Our Lady of the Ramparts was rebuilt. Karl Jobst (1835–1907), a renowned Viennese painter, decorated the inner walls of the chapel, while the vault and lunettes were decorated by the couple František and Marie Urban. Neo-Gothic altarpiece and pews were designed by the architect Josef Mocker in 1894–1895 and carved in the František Mráz's workshop in Prague. The Baroque statue of Our Lady of the Ramparts is situated in the middle of the altarpiece between the statues of St Cecilia and St Catherine from the end of 19th century.

A tabernacle is placed under the statue. Neo-Gothic stained glass windows were designed by František Sequens (1836–1896). In a niche in the eastern wall of the chapel, there is a glass box with bones – alleged remains of the Přemyslids. The tomb of the Přemyslids was destroyed in 1420 and the bones were scattered around in the adjacent cemetery.