Jindřichův Hradec – city

Founded around 1220, the city quickly became one of the largest cities in Bohemia. Today, it offers visitors a historic core with Renaissance houses, a Gothic castle converted into a chateau, and surrounding nature, including the Vajgar pond.

Peace Square forms the natural center of the historic core. Immediately upon arrival, you will be enchanted by the atmosphere lined with beautifully preserved townhouses. Many of them boast Gothic foundations, Renaissance gables, or Baroque facades.

The dominant feature of the square itself is the monumental, 20-meter-high early Baroque plague column from the early 18th century. It is a fascinating example of stonework that will immediately catch your attention. The Baroque column with the sculpture of the Holy Trinity was built in 1764–66 by the Dacia sculptor Matouš Strachovský.

Originally a Gothic town hall from the 15th century with a classicist facade and the town emblem. In 1493, the tower of the town hall was equipped with a clock mechanism made by Master Hanuš, the author of the Old Town Astronomical Clock. The building was damaged by a devastating fire in 1801, when it had to be rebuilt almost from scratch. Inside, on the second floor, there is an Art Nouveau meeting hall, originally designed by the leading Czech architect Jan Kotěra and still serving representative purposes.

In the northeastern corner of Náměstí Míru stands a building of Gothic origin that was rebuilt in the Renaissance style in the 16th century. Karel Havlíček Borovský spent his last night in Bohemia in this building during his involuntary pilgrimage to exile in Brixen. It is said that the famous Czech writer, journalist and politician met another important visitor to the city, Josef Kajetán Tyl, here. The most important Czech Baroque composer, poet and organist, Adam Václav Michna from Otradovice, was probably born in the house.

One of the oldest houses in the city is located on the square – Langrův dům. The house connects two late Gothic houses, which were later connected and rebuilt in the Renaissance style. The sgraffito with scenes from the Old Testament, which distinguishes the house from the others, dates back to 1579.

The interior is notable for its curved ribbed vault, from which sculptural figures of animals look down. The remains of the lords of Hradec and Slavaty rest in the crypt under the presbytery of the church. After a devastating fire in 1801, which destroyed almost the entire church, including the altar with paintings by Petr Brandl, the church was later newly vaulted; the tower also had to be lowered by one storey.

An inconspicuous strip of paving stones marks the place where the 15th meridian of eastern longitude passes. It is located at the northwestern corner of the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. No one knows when the meridian has been marked at the church, that is, when our ancestors inserted the curb that was there before the current arrangement into the paving.
Recently, experts have concluded that the marking on the corner of the church is incorrect and the 15th meridian actually runs much closer to the Nežárka River. The exact Central European Time applies at the location of the meridian, because it is the 15th meridian that is decisive for it.

On Balbín Square there is a building that was used as a Jesuit seminary for two centuries. It served its purpose until the abolition of the Jesuit order, but it was also used for education later, first as a school building, which was also attended by the young Bedřich Smetana. Today the building is owned by the city, which has established a museum there.

The Nežárecká Gate is the only one of the original three city gates of the city fortifications that has survived. In 1879, a tower clock by the Jindřichův Hradec clockmaker Martin Rezek was installed in the gate. The gate is decorated on the western side with a stone relief of the city coat of arms.

A comfortable promenade runs along the north-eastern side of the castle along the mill drive.

In the narrow street Pod hradem there is a group of Baroque houses with Gothic foundations, which significantly complete the character of the castle grounds.

The embankment of the Vajgar pond offers places to relax and walk.