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The second largest town in the country and Moravia’s traditional capital, Brno was also the historic seat of the Přemyslid dynasty. King Wenceslas I awarded Brno municipal status as early as 1243.
The city’s skyline is dominated by the Špilberk castle, where an early-Gothic palace with two chapels is still standing. Later on, the castle was converted into a baroque fortress, and in the 19th...
České Budějovice was founded in 1265 on the confluence of the Vltava and Malše rivers by King Přemysl Otakar II. The city has a chessboard layout. The 13th-century Dominican monastery with the Cloister Church of the Sacrifice of the Virgin Mary features important Gothic frescoes, which were discovered only recently. Not far from here, the Renaissance-era Butchers‘ Shops (Masné krámy) provide a...
Český Krumlov is a unique architectural jewel, whose importance is underlined by the fact that it was included in the UNESCO List of the World Cultural Heritage in 1992.
Above the meanders of the river Vltava a unique complex of municipal housing developed, mainly in the 16th century, along with an extensive castle and chateau complex, the second largest in the country after...
Cheb is amongthe oldest towns in the Czech Republic. Its history dates back to the 11th century. The following century left a remarkable trace on its face – a Romanesque castle, an imperial palace (the only in the Czech Republic), and the two-floor Chapels of St. Erhard and St. Ursula, the construction of which was initiated by Friedrich Barbarossa.
The residential quarter boasts a colourful...
The Děčín Valley has been inhabited since the late Bronze Age,
and over the centuries many different peoples have passed through the area. The
first recorded mention of Děčín dates from 993, when a wooden Přemyslid
fort stood here.
The centre of an ethnographically interesting region – Chodsko, obtained municipal rights in 1262 from King Přemysl Otakar II. One of very few municipal castles in the Czech Republic has remained here since the Middle Ages. Today, the castle of Chodsko houses significant ethnographic collections.
A remarkable dominant of the town is a cylindrical leaning tower of a rectory church....
This charming, small spa town was founded in 1793 by the Cheb doctor Dr. Bernhard Adler on the site of an old curative spring.
The centre of the spa town is a large promenade, flanked by elaborate spa buildings. Most of the typical spa architecture dates back to late 18th and the early 19th centuries – Classicist and Empire buildings, period pavilions, parks, as well...
A small town on the river Radbuza was founded in the 14th century on the site of an early Gothic bishop’s castle, which was later rebuilt into a residential Renaissance chateau.
A unique three-nave chapel with modern windowpanes has been preserved from the Early Gothic period. The surrounding English park (40 hectares) with the Loretto chapel and the Widow House are also worth...
Hradec Kralove is among the oldest Bohemian towns. It was built on the place of an old Slavic settlement and historical sources date it back to 1225. In the Middle Ages it was a dowry town of Czech queens. From the 14th century the brick Cathedral of the Holy Ghost has been preserved, while the neighbouring White Tower was built in the 16th century.
In the period of Rococo the town...
Between 1780 and 1789, the Austro-Hungarian Emperor Joseph II built an extensive military fort and a town here, which conformed to the Classicist ideas of an ideal town. The large complex of the Upper and Lower fort and the fortress Brodce formed a perfect defensive system, built of 500 million bricks, was paradoxically never besieged or conquered. The military town itself was built...
Jičín was founded in the picturesque landscape of Český ráj (Bohemian Paradise) as a town mainly built of wood. In the early 17th century, the famous politician and military leader Albrecht of Valdštejn (=von Wallenstein) had it rebuilt into a stone city. According to the ambitious project by Italian architects, an Early Baroque chateau, a summer house, a new diacanal church and a complex...
One of the oldest mining towns in the country was founded in the mid-13th century near rich sources of silver ore. The importance of the time in the medieval era can be seen in the number of religious monuments (e.g,. the Church of St. James), burghers' houses with Gothic vaults and arcades, and remnants of sizeable Gothic fortifications.
A labyrinth of underground corridors was...
Jindřichův Hradec has developed on the historical border between Bohemia, Moravia and Austria. The most significant sight of the town is the third largest chateau complex in the Czech Republic- a unique renaissance chateau, including a Gothic palace with valuable Gothic paintings, and a Rondel, which, thanks to its perfect acoustics, serves as a venue for numerous concerts. In the centre of the...
Kadaň was founded in the 13th century by King Přemysl Otakar II. The Middle Ages gave rise to the town's most most significant sights, such as the Gothic castle with a part of its Gothic fortifications and a sizeable bastion in front of the Žatecká gate. The Gothic Town Hall dates back to the 14th-15th centuries; an attached high tower is topped by a rare stone helmet....
With its regular ground plan of streets and a square, this royal town is a fine example of highly advanced medieval urbanism of the 13th century. The rectory Church of St. Bartholomew is an exceptional masterpiece of Late Gothic architecture. Petr Parléř, the Gothic architect working under King Charles IV, built the high cathedral chancel between 1360-1378. The burghers' houses...
Kroměříž is situated on of the river Morava, amidst the fertile fields of the Haná region. The town is mentioned as early as 1110, when the foundation of the union with the representatives of the Roman-Catholic church were laid.
In 1777, the town with its chateau and its beautiful parks became a residence of the bishops of Olomouc. The following development of the town was in influenced to...
The little town is situated in the valley of the Morava Gate (Moravská brána) near the river Bečva, and represents a characteristic example of the colonizing urbanism of the 13th century. The impressive square is decorated with Late Gothic and Renaissance houses from the 15th and the 16th century (incl. The Renaissance Town Hall, later adapted in the Empire style, and two Baroque fountains)....
Litoměřice is one of the oldest and most significant towns in Bohemia. It is located in the fertile countryside near the rivers Labe and Ohře, north of Prague. As early as the 11th century the Przemyslids founded a capitulary with a Romanesque basilica here, which was rebuilt in Baroque into a bishop’s residence with the Cathedral of St. Stephen.
On the town square we can see numerous examples...
Litomyšl received town status as early as the mid-13th century, and its importance was strengthened 100 years later by the establishment of the second bishopric in Bohemia. The town is characteristic by its elongated street-square surrounded by rows of burgers’ houses; the most significant one is the Renaissance house “U rytířů” with valuable stone-carving decoration.
The main...
A small, picturesque medieval castle-town developed above the meanders of the river Ohře. Its symbol is the royal sentry castle with Romanesque elements, rebuilt during the reign of Wenceslas IV and later in the style of the Saxon Renaissance. Colorful burghers' houses surround the town square. A short drive from Karlovy Vary or Mariánské Lázně, Loket makes an excellent day trip from...
