The St. Vitus Cathedral is located on a hill that overlooks the city of Prague. When construction began in the 14th century, Prague was the third-largest city in the world after Rome and Constantinople. In this grand Gothic cathedral, kings have been crowned, married, and buried, and national treasures have been held. As in the past, pilgrims continue to pay their respects to the church’s patron saints Wenceslaus, Vitus, and others represented within. French master-builder Matthias of Arras brought with him the French Gothic style. He employed a system of harmonious proportions to underpin the overarching composition. The cathedral’s slender verticality is created by tall interior columns that form the central nave, and by ribbed vaulting that holds the seemingly weightless, high ceiling. On the exterior, carved stone spires top flying buttresses that support the walls, the pointed arched windows and portals, and the main façade. A Gothic architect set …