Rudolf II was a Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia, during whose reign Prague became an imperial residence city.
Rudolf II was a Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia.[3] During his reign Prague became an imperial residence city.[1]
Prague Castle
According to the National Heritage Institute, the most extensive building changes at Prague Castle probably took place when Prague was an imperial residence city under Rudolf II. The southern wing of the castle was extended for residential use, a new northern block was built in several construction stages, and a transverse wing connected the two complexes.[1] According to Prague City Tourism, the castle was founded in the 9th century and became the seat of Bohemian kings and later of presidents.[2]
Plzeň
In 1599 to 1600 Plzeň was temporarily the seat of Rudolf II.[3]
Rudolf's Gallery and Stromovka
In the 1580s Rudolf II decided to set up a pond for carp breeding in the Royal Game Reserve, from which Stromovka later emerged. The reserve did not have a sufficiently abundant source of water, and so in 1583 he ordered it to be brought from the Vltava through a tunnel under the Letná ridge.[4] The work, begun in the spring of 1584, was led by Lazar Ercker of Schreckenfels, chief mining master and master of the mint in Prague. The mine surveyor Jiří Oeder of Ústí laid out the direction of the gallery, placed the intake on the left bank of the Vltava above the Novomlýnský weir and determined the position of five small shafts used for ventilation and the transport of material.[4] The gallery is 1,102 metres long, two to three metres high and 0.7 to one metre wide.[4]
According to the Prague City Hall, the embankments of the former Rudolf Pond are still preserved in Stromovka, and the system of small ponds in the park is still fed by Rudolf's Gallery from the Vltava.[5] The bed of the former pond was completely reconstructed in 2015 to 2018.[5]
Burial place
Rudolf II is buried in the royal tomb of St Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle. According to the cathedral administration, it is the largest burial site of Bohemian rulers. Besides Rudolf II, it contains the sarcophagi of, for example, Charles IV, Wenceslaus IV and George of Poděbrady.[6]