said to have been founded by St. Adalbert on the site of a Pagan temple. It is one of the three round chapels that are the oldest religious edifices in Prague. It is, as Monsignor Lehner writes, ‘the only remaining relic of the splendour of the Vysehrad during the period of Romanesque architecture.’
Another interesting church is that of St. Peter and St. Paul, built originally as a Romanesque basilica, but altered considerably after the Hussite Wars. An interesting legend connected with the church is, or rather was, related to the visitors of St. Peter’s Church. Mr. Kohl, who visited Prague in 1841, writes:[1] ‘A memorable tale was told me by my conductress. “Once upon a time a poor man went into the forest. There he met a smart, jovial-looking huntsman, at least so he supposed, but in truth it was no huntsman, but the devil in disguise. Now the huntsman spoke to the sorrowful man and said, ‘Art poor, old boy?’ ‘Ay, miserably poor, sir, and full of care, replied the other. ‘How many children hast thou?’ ‘Six, noble sir,’ answered the poor man. ‘Give me for ever that child of thine that thou hast never seen and I’ll give thee thy fill of money.’ ‘Willingly, sir,’ was the silly father’s reply. ‘Then come, and we’ll sign and seal the bargain.’ The old man did so, and received countless heaps of money. When he got home, however, to his own house, to his surprise he found that he had seven children, for his wife had in the meantime brought the seventh into the world. Thereupon the father began to feel very uncomfortable, and to suspect that the devil had talked him out of his child. In his anxiety he called his new-born son Peter, and dedicated him to the Apostle, praying St. Peter to take the boy under his protection
- ↑ In his Hundert Tage in Oesterreich. I quote from the English translation, published by Messrs. Chapman & Hall in 1844.
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