We enter through the Baroque Leopold Gate, built in 1670, and arrive at the Rotunda of St. Martin — the oldest surviving rotunda in Prague, dating from the 11th century. It stood here when William the Conqueror crossed into England.

Look closely at the wall, on the side facing south. You'll see a real cannonball, lodged exactly where it landed in 1757, during the Prussian bombardment of Prague. They could have removed it. They chose not to.

Some things tell their own story.

The Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. Its 58-metre Neo-Gothic spires are visible from across Prague — you've probably already seen them from another viewpoint and not known what they were.

Founded around 1070 by King Vratislav II — the first king of Bohemia. Rebuilt into its present form between 1885 and 1903. The Art Nouveau interior glows in gold and deep blue. Pope John Paul II elevated it to Basilica Minor status in 2003. A 21-bell carillon plays daily.

We walk around the basilica together so you see all sides. Optional ticket to step inside is available on site.

The Vyšehrad Cemetery is where Czech genius rests.

Karel Čapek is here — the writer who, in his 1920 play R.U.R., invented the word "robot." Without him, every science fiction novel, every Hollywood film, every conversation about AI would have a different vocabulary. He's buried about 50 metres from the basilica.

Antonín Dvořák is here too — the composer whose New World Symphony was written in America and is still considered one of the greatest pieces of music of the 19th century. Bedřich Smetana, whose music plays at every Czech wedding. Alfons Mucha, the Art Nouveau master whose posters defined the Paris of the Belle Époque. Opera singers, poets, sculptors — 56 of the greatest figures in Czech history rest in these quiet arcades.

The central tomb bears one inscription in Czech: "Though dead, they still speak."

We walk to the western ramparts. Prague opens up below — from a perspective most visitors never see.

Prague Castle on the hill across the river, smaller than you remember it. The Vltava sliding through the city. The Old Town spires in the distance. The Cubist houses on the riverbank just below — one of only a handful of places in the world where you can see Cubist architecture in real buildings, not just paintings.

This is where Prague locals come to picnic, to read, to bring a date for sunset. They've been doing it for a hundred years. The Vyšehrad sunset is the city's best-kept photographic secret.

Vyšehrad has its own myths — strange, dark, beautiful.

The Devil's Column — three pieces of broken stone in the parkland, with a legend about a Vyšehrad priest who made a bet with the Devil. Whether the priest won or the Devil did — I'll tell you on site, looking at the broken stones themselves.

The cliff where Princess Libuše, in the oldest Czech legend, looked down at the Vltava and prophesied — "I see a great city whose glory will touch the stars." That city is Prague. That cliff is where we end the tour.

Standing here, with the wind in your hair and a thousand years of Prague below — you understand why the legend survived.