The Svojanov Castle was built in 1224. During the reign of Ottokar II of Bohemia, it was used for protection of the trade route from Bohemia to Moravia. The first written mention of the settlement below the castle called Svojanov is from 1287. It was then owned by Záviš of Falkenstein, who had the small fortress extended into a big Gothic castle. The village of Starý Svojanov was founded in the 13th century and supposedly is the oldest part of today's municipality.
In 1421, Svojanov was besieged by Jan Žižka and between 1642 and 1645, the market town was occupied by the Swedish army. In December 1798, the Russian legions marched through Svojanov to fight against Napoleon.
The castle ruins are open to the public and often are used for cultural purposes.
The Chapel of St. Martin is the only completely preserved Romanesque building in Vyšehrad and one of the oldest in Prague. In was built around 1100 in the eastern part of the fortified outer ward. Between 1100 and 1300, the Rotrunda was surrounded by a cemetery. The building survived the Hussite Wars and was used as the municipal prison of the Town of the Vyšehrad Hill.
During the Thirty Years’ War, it was used as gunpowder storage, from 1700 to 1750, it was renovated and reconsecrated. In 1784, the chapel was closed passed to the military management which kept using it as a warehouseand a cannon-amunition manufacturing facility. In 1841, it was meant to be demolished to give way to the construction of a new road through Vyšehrad. Eventually, only the original western entrance was walled up and replaced with a new one in the sountren side. The dilapidating Rotunda subsequently served as a shelter for the poor.