CZECH REPUBLIC: After five years behind closed doors, Czech Coronation jewels are shown to the public

Record ID: 343610

  • Title: CZECH REPUBLIC: After five years behind closed doors, Czech Coronation jewels are shown to the public
  • Date: 21st April 2008
  • Summary: BOHEMIAN CORONATION RELIQUARIES ON DISPLAY RAISED HAND RELIQUARY OF ST. WENCESLAS CROSS CONTAINING FRAGMENT OF WHAT IS BELIEVED TO BE CHRIST'S LOINCLOTH ST. WENCESLAS' SWORD BUST FROM THE TREASURY OF ST VITUS
  • Embargoed: 6th May 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Czech Republic
  • Country: Czech Republic
  • Topics: Royalty,Lifestyle
  • Reuters ID: LVABBT16CJQLV3YTHMNOY3DWYAEL
  • Story Text: For the first time in five years, the Bohemian Coronation Jewels will be exhibited from 19-29 April in Prague Castle's Vladislavsky Hall.
    The crown jewels consist of the St Wenceslas Crown, complete with case and cushion, commissioned by the Czech King Charles IV; the royal sceptre, the royal orb and the coronation vestments - a cloak decorated with ermine, a belt, a stole and the maniple.
    During the coronation of the Bohemian kings the reliquary cross and the ceremonial sword of St Wenceslas were also used. The cross and sword are generally displayed with the Coronation Jewels although they are actually part of the Cathedral Treasury of St Vitus.
    Ivana Kizourova is the head curator of the Vladislavsky Hall exhibition, that is being held to mark the 90th anniversary of the independence of the Czechoslovak state.
    "Charles IV decreed that the coronation jewels and especially the St. Wenceslas Crown will be used only during extraordinary cases, like during coronation ceremonies or during the burials of the kings. There was also a condition that the St. Wenceslas crown should return to its place on the same day by sunset."
    The Coronation Jewels are kept in the Crown Chamber in the St Vitus' Cathedral.
    The president must make the decision to display the Coronation Jewels and the opening of the Crown Chamber at St Wenceslas chapel requires the presence of the holders of the seven keys - President, Prime Minister; Archbishop of Prague, Speaker of the Senate, Speaker of the Parliament, Provost of the Metropolitan Chapter and the Lord Mayor of Prague.
    Kizourova brought the crown jewels out of the chapel past the seven key holders for display in the Vladislavsky hall.
    "The St. Wenceslas Crown is the most important piece in the coronation jewels. It was ordered by King Charles IV during the period when Czech lands were at their economic, political and cultural height, which has never been reached again," she said The crown was made for Charles IV, who on September 2 1347 was the first King of Bohemia to be crowned with it. The leather case dates from the same period.
    The crown is 19 cm high, weighs 2,358g and is decorated with a total of 20 pearls and 96 precious stones (rubellites, sapphires, spinels, rubies, emeralds) some of which are the largest of their kind in the world. The apex of the crown comprises of a gold cross, in the middle of which is set a rare Romanesque cameo. The headband, made of 21-22 carat gold, is joined by two arched cross-pieces. For decoration, a piece of a gold belt given to Queen Blanche de Valois by King Charles the Fair was used.
    "This crown is rare because it has kept its medieval likeness. The last adjustments on it were done during Charles IV reign in the fourteenth century. Since then it hasn't had any big repairs or changes made to it. It is absolutely unique among the European insignias," Kizourova said.
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