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 century,...
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, the importance of which is confirmed by the fact that it is included in the UNESCO List of the World Cultural Heritage since 1992. Above the meanders of the river Vltava a unique complex of municipal housing has developed here, mainly from the 16th century, and an extensive castle and chateau complex, the second largest chateau complex after the Prague...
Cheb belongs to the 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. In the municipal housing area excel the...
The centre of an ethnographically interesting region – Chodsko, obtained municipal rights in 1262 from King Přemysl Otakar II. One of few municipal castles in the Czech Republic has preserved here from the Middle Ages. Today the castle of Chodsko offers significant ethnographical collections. A remarkable dominant of the town is a cylinder leaning tower of a rectory church. The square is elongated...
The spa town was founded in 1793 from the initiative of the Cheb doctor Dr. Bernhard Adler on the place of an old curative spring. The centre of the spa became a large promenade street. Typical spa architecture has preserved from the late 18th and the early 19th centuries – Classicist and Empire buildings, period pavilions, parks as well as sacral monuments (worth mentioning is the orthodox Church...
A small town on the river Radbuze was founded in the 14th century at an Early Gothic bishop’s castle, which was later rebuilt into a representative Renaissance chateau. From the Early Gothic period has preserved a unique three-nave chapel with modern windowpanes. Worth mentioning is also the natural park (40 hectares) with the Loreto chapel and the Widow House. The picturesque square is decorated...
Hradec Kralove is the oldest originated town in Bohemia. It was built on the place of an old Slavic settlement and the 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 preserved, the neighbouring White Tower was built in the 16th century. In the period of Rococo the town was changed into...
In the years 1780-1789 Emperor Joseph II had an extensive military fort and a town built here, which confirmed to the Classicist ideas of an ideal town. The large complex of the Upper and Lower fort and fortress Brodce with a perfect defence system, built of 500 million bricks, was, as a paradox, never besieged or conquered. The military town itself was built on a regular geometric ground plan and...
Jičín was originated in the landscape of Český ráj (Czech Paradise) as a town mainly built of wood. In the early 17th century Albrecht of Valdštejn had it rebuilt into a stone version. According to the ambitious project by Italian architects an Early Baroque chateau, a summerhouse, a new decanal church and a complex of Jesuits buildings were built from the Albrecht’s initiative. Valdická Gate is a...
One of our oldest mining towns was founded in the mid-13th century near rich sources of silver ore. Medieval vigour of the town can be seen on numerous sacral monuments (e.g. the Church of St. Jacob) as well as in the hearts of some citizen houses with Gothic vaults and arcades and on the parts of sizeable Gothic fortifications. Already at that time the 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 Roundel, which is thanks to its perfect acoustics a place of numerous concerts. In the centre of the town the...
Kadaň was founded in the 13th century within the location activities of King Přemysl Otakar II. From the Middle Ages have preserved the 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 and the Gothic Town Hall, dated from the 14th-15th centuries with a chapel and a high tower, peaked by a rare stone...
The significant royal town is the example of highly advanced medieval urbanism of the 13th century with regular ground plan of streets and a square. An exceptional masterpiece of Late Gothic architecture is the rectory Church of St. Bartholomew. Petr Parléř realized the construction of the high cathedral chancel in 1360-1378. From the later period come the citizen house built in the High Baroque...
Kroměříž is situated on the middle stream of the river Morava, in the middle of fertile fields of the Haná region. The town is mentioned already in 1110, when the bases 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...
The little town is situated in the valley of Morava Gate (Moravská brána) near the river Bečva is a characteristic example of the regular colonization 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, adapted in Empire, and two Baroque fountains). The expressive dominant of the...
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. Already in 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 unique expositions of mainly...
Litomyšl was raised into the status of a town in the mid-13th century and its importance was strengthened 100 years late by the establishment of the second bishopric in Bohemia. The town is characterized by an elongated street square surrounded by rows of citizen’s houses; the most significant one is the Renaissance house “U rytířů” with valuable stone-carving decoration. The main dominants of the...
A small medieval town developed above the meanders of the river Ohře. Its biggest dominant is the royal sentry castle with Romanesque elements, rebuilt during the reign of Wenceslas IV and later in the style of Saxon Renaissance. Citizen’s houses surround the colourful town square. Loket became a consisting part of the significant German-Czech castle route called Burgenstrasse.
In the southwest of Pavlovské vrchy under the original castle grew a tributary town. The remains of the original fortifications can be seen on the Canon Tower in Kozí hrádek. The castle was rebuilt into a luxurious Baroque chateau, which, together with the Renaissance tower of the Church of St. Wenceslas and the Holy Hill with a chapel, creates the characteristic panorama of the town. Thanks to the...
