The cemetery in the Vysehrad Castle in Prague has existed since the middle of the XIII century. In the 1870s, the old burial site was reorganized. At the same time, the Pantheon of great figures of the Czech state "Slavin" appeared.

Several hundred modest family tombstones along with real masterpieces sculptures are installed in memory of famous people under the shadow of the neo-Gothic towers of the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul.

The idea of converting the old cemetery into a Pantheon was formed during the revival of national consciousness, which was beginning in the Czech Republic in the middle of the XIX century. Active revolutionary events in 1848 revived in the Czech society Patriotic feelings and interest in folk history. And it was Vysehrad-the historical burial place of the first Czech king and princes-that became the appropriate place to create a national cemetery.

The Svyatobor society of writers initiated the reorganization of the cemetery. The writer-patriot Frantisek Palacky made a great contribution to the development of this idea. 

Today, more than 600 important persons of Czech national culture are buried in Vysehrad. Visitors who are at least partially familiar with Czech literature, fine art, and music will definitely find famous names on memorial stelae. There are writers Karel Čapek, Karel Hynek Mácha, Jan Neruda, Božena Němcová, Vítězslav Nezval; artists  Mikoláš Aleš, Karel Purkyně; sculptors Vaclav Levy, Otakar Španiel; composers: Antonin Dvořák, Bedřich Smetana, Zdeněk Fibich. Among the famous names there are also virtuoso violin players František Ondříček and Josef Slavík; scientist, physiologist  Jan Evangelista Purkyně, winner of the Nobel prize for polarography Jaroslav Heyrovský. The tombstones form a unique sculpture gallery with the works of the artists V. Myslbek, F. Bílek, B. Kafka, O. Spaniel, K. Medicago, Th. Wagner and many others.

The dominant position among the tombstones is occupied by "Slavin" - a large-scale complex built in 1889-1893.  On the front of the monument, there are three plaques with the names of the first fifteen persons buried there. Above the nameplates, the motto "Slavina" is engraved: "Though they are dead, they still speak". The sculptural decoration is the work of Th. Moudra consists of two statues of the Motherland: exultant and grieving. On the top, there is a sculpture of a winged Genius with a sarcophagus.

More than 50 outstanding people are buried under the slabs of "Slavin". Among them are the writer Jaroslav Vrchlický, the artist Alfons Maria Mucha, the sculptors Y. V. Myslbek, Bohumil Kafka, Ladislav Shaloun, architects Kamil Gilbert, Josef Gočár, inventor František Krzyzyk, violinists, pianists, opera singers.

There are graves in the cemetery where no one is buried. They are a symbol of respect for a person. Among these monuments the tombs of the painter and writer Josef Čapek, a female politician Milada Horáková.

The entrance to the Visegrad cemetery is free.