Inside you are greeted by a small exposition and history of the walled defences of Prague and Vysehrad in particular, which costs around 10 crowns.

Again, if you don't know about what is hidden under the formidable ramparts of this great fortress, you could leave without realising that you have missed one of the star attractions here.

Every hour the attendant takes you on a guided tour of the casemates running under the walls from both directions of the Brick Gate. This tour costs 20 crowns - both of these costs are covered by the Prague Card.

It is like entering another world as the lights are switched on to reveal a tunnel disappearing into the distance. There are over two kilometres of tunnels under Vysehrad and after what seems an age you come out into a large black space pierced by shafts of light from several small openings and you are aware of several dark shapes looming out of the inky blackness.

When the lights are turned on it is truly a revelation because the Gorlice Hall is a large hall of some 330 square metres with a 13-metre ceiling and is used as a repository for six original Charles Bridge statues placed here at regular intervals since 1992:

St. Bernard with Madonna (by M.V. Jäckel, 1709)

St. Augustine and St. Nicolas of Tolentino (by J. B. Kohl, 1708)

St. Adalbert (by F. M. Brokof, 1709)

St. Anne (by M. V. Jäckel, 1707)

St. Ludmila with small Wenceslas (by M.B.Braun, 1720 - 1724)

The Gorlice Hall is a wonderful space, especially when the first time you enter you feel like Indiana Jones stumbling upon some long lost tomb for the first time.

Definitely the highlight of my visit to Vysehrad!

Also, in recent years a theatre company has been playing 'The Tragicall History of Doctor Faustus' by Christopher Marlowe in this space.

As a side note, the subway trip to the park was a fun, easy experience. It was easy to walk to the park from the subway as well.

Statues in the park of the first princess Libuse and her Premysl spouse lend a romantic air to the place. Under the astounding Charles IV the coronation ritual of the monarch's beginning here and going in procession to the "new Castle" was established, underlining the link between Prague's early settlement and the later development of the castle on the hill to the north. During the religious wars, old Vysehrad was obliterated and the area lay in ruins until a late 19th century revival of interest in it as a nationalist symbol.

There were quite a few people there when we were, but the park is so spacious you didn't feel crowded in on. Most of the visitors were found in the church and the cemetery and seemed equally divided between Czechs and tourists. It's relatively easy to get to from the Pavlova metro station to Vysehrad metro station, a short ride, and then a 30 minute stroll to the park entrance in a middle-class residential area dotted with a few discreet B&B's with window signs.

At the Vysehrad station we could see just to the east of us the stark towering mass of the Corinthian Towers, a Libyan-owned hotel that all the guidebooks warn Americans to avoid. At the station itself is a large Congress Hall, a convention center, very glassy and modern in design, quite a contrast to the Vysehrad Park itself.
This is an area that one should read about before visiting because it is not yet a "touristy" sight. We felt you could picnic there very comfortably and it was a boon for our son who had "overwalked" his first day in Prague and had hurt his leg muscles. Prague has that effect on people; so many want to see it that they tend to overdo it and lose out, missing some of Prague's subtler charms.