Raman spectroscopy on carbonaceous matter reconstructs the progressive path of graphitization during granulite facies metamorphism in the Variscan collisional belt of the southern Bohemian Massif. In this area, heating to 650–750 °C gradually altered the graphite microstructure, attributed to a metamorphic field gradient. Late low-pressure and high-temperature metamorphism at temperatures above 800 °C as well as advective heat transport due to rising granulite diapirs improved the graphite lattice ordering significantly. Numerical parameters derived from the Raman spectra of carbonaceous matter, in particular the G-band width and the S2-band dispersion map metamorphic field gradients in high-grade metamorphic terrains.