Slavín

Slavín is a major mausoleum in Prague's Vyšehrad Cemetery, built between 1889 and 1893 as the final resting place for outstanding Czech figures. Designed by the architect Antonín Wiehl, the building stands on the eastern side of the cemetery and holds the graves of 57 well-known artists, scientists, and politicians. The idea for this national burial ground of honor arose in the 1880s on the initiative of the then provost of Vyšehrad, while funding was secured largely thanks to a donation from the mayor of Smíchov. The first to be interred here, in 1901, was the poet Julius Zeyer, whose verses can also be found on the bases of the side statues. The monumental facade is richly decorated with sculptures by Josef Mauder, including a coffin over which the winged allegory of the Genius of the Fatherland bends. The central monument is flanked by statues of the mourning homeland and the victorious homeland. Above the name plates of those buried here is the motto "Ač zemřeli, ještě mluví", which means roughly: Although they have died, they still speak.