1

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2

Gardens and Castle at Krom

Kroměříž stands on the site of an earlier ford

across the River Morava, at the foot of the

Chriby mountain range which dominates the

central part of Moravia. The gardens and castle

of Kroměříž are an exceptionally complete and

well-preserved example of a European

Baroque princely residence and its gardens.

The Gardens and Castle at Kroměříž are an

exceptionally complete and well-preserved example

of a princely residence and its associated landscape

of the 17th and 18th centuries. The ensemble, and

in particular the pleasure garden, played a

significant role in the development of Baroque

garden and palace design in central Europe

Kroměříž did not achieve the status of a fortified

until the mid-13th century, when a Gothic fort

was constructed, and the town prospered in the

succeeding centuries. In 1497 Stanislav Thurzo

became Bishop of Olomouc and he set about

reconstructing and modernizing his castle at

Kroměříž. At first this work was carried out using

the late Gothic style of the period, but

Renaissance elements began to filter in as the

work progressed. Bishop Thurzo also established

a garden, comprising orchard, kitchen garden and

flower garden, which was praised by King

Vladislav II when he visited Kroměříž in 1509.

3

The history of Kromeríz began with the

establishment of a settlement in the floodplain

of the Morava river in the 9th century AD

during the Greater Moravian Period. By the

12th century, when it belonged to the

Bishopric of Olomouc, the original fortified

site had disappeared. It did not achieve the

status of a fortified town again until the mid-

13th century, when a Gothic fort was

constructed. The town prospered in the

succeeding centuries, becoming the centre of

the organization of vassals of the episcopal

domains.

Once the garden was finished Tencalla's attention

turned to the design and construction of a

magnificent episcopal castle and residence. This

was to be his masterpiece, in the tradition of the

north Italian Baroque school of Genoa and Turin.

Nonetheless, it respected its Gothic predecessor,

elements of which were blended into the new

complex. Meanwhile, Bishop Karel was furnishing

the interiors, creating a picture gallery that

contained many masterpieces.

The castle was affected by the fire that swept

through the town in March 1752. Bishop Leopold

Bedrich Eghk oversaw the restoration, bringing in

artists and craftsmen to carry out the work, notably

the Viennese painter Franz Anton Maulbertsch and

the Moravian artists Josef Stern.

The see was raised to an archbishopric in 1777

and the first archbishop, Colloredo-Waldsee, was

responsible for the restyling of the Castle Garden

in accordance with the romantic approach of the

late 18th century. The Pleasure Garden, however,

preserved its Baroque geometrical layout. The

work on the Castle Garden continued well into

the 19th century, with the construction of arcades,

bridges, and even a model farmstead. Much of

this was carried out under the supervision of the

architect Antonín Arche between 1830 and 1845.

4

Historic Centre of Český Krumlov

Situated on the banks of the Vltava river, the

town was built around a 13th-century castle

with Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque

elements. It is an outstanding example of a

small central European medieval town whose

architectural heritage has remained intact

thanks to its peaceful evolution over more than

five centuries.

Český Krumlov is located on an ancient east-west

communication route at a crossing of the Vltava

River. The earliest documentary record of 1253

refers to the existence there of a castle belonging to

a member of the ruling Vitkovici family of south

Bohemia. The core of the Castle (Hrádek) dates

from the 13th century. Settlement developed to the

east (Latràn) and also on the opposite bank of the

river round a central square. This multi-nodal urban

development is a characteristic of medieval town

development, especially in northern and central

Europe.

It was the seat of the influential Rožmberk family

for 300 years from the mid-14th century. The

Gothic Castle was reconstructed in Renaissance

style, with the involvement of leading artists of

the period. The wealth and importance of the

town is reflected in the high quality of many of

the burgher houses, since the presence of the seat

of government led to Český Krumlov becoming

an important craft and trade centre. There was

also considerable ecclesiastical development,

illustrated by the major 15th century church of St

Vitus and monasteries of various preaching and

itinerant Orders. The town later passed to the

equally influential Schwarzenberg family, and it

retained its importance well into the 19th century.

5

There are two main historic areas - the Latràn

area below the Castle and the town proper on

the opposite bank, in the meander of the Vltava

River. The town has a regular street layout,

typical of the planned towns of the Middle

Ages, with streets radiating out from the

central square and a circular intra-rampart

road.

The Castle contains elements from the Gothic,

High Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque styles.

It is dominated by the Gothic Hradek with its

round tower: this was subsequently converted

into a Baroque chateau with the addition of a

garden, the Bellaire summer palace, a winter

riding school, and a unique Baroque theatre of

1766.

Both Latràn and the town proper contain

undisturbed ensembles of burgher houses from

High Gothic onwards. They are notable for their

facades, internal layouts, and decorative detail,

especially carved wooden Renaissance ceilings.

The Church of St Vitus, dating from the early

15th century, anticipates High Gothic in its

reticulated vaulting and is significant in the

European context. Other important historic

elements are the Renaissance Jesuit College and

Baroque seminary, the Town Hall (created by

combining several burgher houses and

embellishing them with a Renaissance facade),

the remains of the fortifications, especially the

Budĕjovická Gate (a Renaissance structure,

modelled on Italian originals), and the

Renaissance armoury in Latrán.

6

Historic Centre of Prague

Built between the 11th and 18th centuries, the

Old Town, the Lesser Town and the New

Town speak of the great architectural and

cultural influence enjoyed by this city since the

Middle Ages. The many magnificent

monuments, such as Hradcani Castle, St Vitus

Cathedral, Charles Bridge and numerous

churches and palaces, built mostly in the 14th

century under the Holy Roman Emperor,

Charles IV.

Prague is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe

in terms of its setting on both banks of the Vltava

River, its townscape of burger houses and palaces

punctuated by towers, and its individual buildings.

The Historic Centre represents a supreme

manifestation of Medieval urbanism (the New

Town of Emperor Charles IV built as the New

Jerusalem). The Prague architectural works of the

Gothic Period (14th and 15th centuries), of the

High Baroque of the 1st half of the 18th century

and of the rising modernism after the year 1900,

influenced the development of Central Europe,

perhaps even all European architecture. Prague

represents one of the most prominent world

centres of creative life in the field of urbanism

and architecture across generations, human

mentality and beliefs.

7

Prague belongs to the group of historic cities

which have preserved the structure of their

development until the present times. Within the

core of Prague, successive stages of growth

and changes have respected the original grand-

scale urban structure of the Early Middle Ages.

This structure was essentially and greatly

enlarged with urban activities in the High

Gothic period with more additions during the

High Baroque period and in the 19th century. It

has been saved from any large-scale urban

renewal or massive demolitions and thus

preserves its overall configuration, pattern and

spatial composition.

In the course of the 1100 years of its existence,

Prague’s development can be documented in the

architectural expression of many historical periods

and their styles. The city is rich in outstanding

monuments from all periods of its history. Of

particular importance are Prague Castle, the

Cathedral of St Vitus, Hradćany Square in front of

the Castle, the Valdgtejn Palace on the left bank of

the river, the Gothic Charles Bridge, the

Romanesque Rotunda of the Holy Rood, the Gothic

arcaded houses round the Old Town Square, the

High Gothic Minorite Church of St James in the

Stark Mĕsto, the late 19th century buildings and

town plan of the Nave Mĕsto.

As early as the Middle Ages, Prague became one

of the leading cultural centres of Christian

Europe. The Prague University, founded in 1348,

is one of the earliest in Europe. The milieu of the

University in the last quarter of the 14th century

and the first years of the 15th century contributed

among other things to the formation of ideas of

the Hussite Movement which represented in fact

the first steps of the European Reformation. As a

metropolis of culture, Prague is connected with

prominent names in art, science and politics, such

as Charles IV, Petr Parléř, Jan Hus, Johannes

Kepler, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz

Kafka, Antonín Dvořák, Albert Einstein, Edvard

Beneš (co-founder of the League of Nations) and

Václav Havel.

8

Historic Centre of Telč

The houses in Telc, which stands on a hilltop,

were originally built of wood. After a fire in

the late 14th century, the town was rebuilt in

stone, surrounded by walls and further

strengthened by a network of artificial ponds.

The town's Gothic castle was reconstructed in

High Gothic style in the late 15th century.

The town of Telt, located near the south-western

border between Moravia and Bohemia, is in a

region that was thickly forested until the

13th century. The origins of the settlement are

unclear: there was anearly medieval settlement at

Star/e M&to to the SE of the present town,

but there is no mention of Tel8 in documentary

records before 1333-5,when reference is made to

the existence there of an important castle

(and presumably also a church and settlement). The

town itself was probably founded in the mid 14th

century.

It developed on a hilltop, round a market square

in the form of an elongated triangle. The town

was surrounded by stone walls, further

strengthened by a most of the houses were

wooden, but they were reconstructed network of

ponds. Until a fire in 1386 in stone. The parish

church of St Jacob, built in 1360-72, also had to

be rebuilt. The Gothic castle was reconstructed in

High Gothic style in the later 15th century. The

second half of the 16th century was a period of

great prosperity under Zacharias of Hradec, who

began work on the Renaissance castle.

He also rebuilt the market place in the same style

following another devastating fire. The resulting

town is an outstanding example of

Renaissance town planning and architecture.

9

Baroque elements were introduced by the

Jesuits, who built a college (1651-65) and the

Church of the Name of Jesus (1666-67). At the

same time Baroque gables were added to the

facades of some of the houses In the market

place; Rococo and classical elements also

followed in later remodel lings.

The Industrial Revolution of the early 19th

century saw considerable cultural awakening in

the region and increased prosperity.

Nevertheless, the town of Tel: retained its

traditional character.

The town covers 9 ha and contains 85 designated

historical monuments. Its centre is the Renaissance

chateau, which retains substantial evidence

of its Gothic precursor. The Golden Hall to the

north of the castle complex is notable for its fine

gilded ceiling of 1561. which shows

considerable Italian influence. The latest phase of

reconstruction was under the charge of Baldassar

Maggi of Arogno, and dates to the late 16th

century.

The houses in the market place, although

embellished with facades from various periods,

are basically Renaissance and conform to a

standard plan. The parish Church of St Jacob has

a twin-a&led layout dating from the

early 14th century: a Renaissance choir was

added in 1638 and the Gothic tower was crowned

with a Baroque dome in 1687.

10

Holašovice Historical Village Reservation

Holašovice is an exceptionally complete and

well-preserved example of a traditional central

European village. It has a large number of

outstanding 18th- and 19th-century vernacular

buildings in a style known as 'South Bohemian

folk Baroque', and preserves a ground plan

dating from the Middle Ages.

Holasovice is of special significance in that it

represents the fusion of two vernacular building

traditions to create an exceptional and enduring

style, known as South Bohemian Folk Baroque.

Criterion iv: The exceptional completeness and

excellent preservation of Holasovice and its

buildings make it an outstanding example of

traditional rural settlement in central Europe.

Archaeological investigation has shown that this

area was settled by humankind as early as the 2nd

millennium BC, in the Neolithic period. It was

settled by Slavonic peoples in the 9th and 10th

centuries AD. It came under Premyslid rule at the

end of the 10th century, but Holasovice was not

founded until the period of largescale

colonization of the border regions of Bohemia in

the first half of the 13th century. The first written

record is in a 1292 document of Wenceslas II,

who gave the village, along with several others,

to the Cistercian monastery at Vyssí Brod, which

retained possession until 1848.

11

Until the beginning of the 16th century the area

was settled by Czechs, but the plague that

ravaged Bohemia in 1521 left only two

inhabitants alive. The Cistercians brought in

settlers from other possessions of the Order in

Bavaria and Austria: all the family names

listed in a monastic record of 1524-30 were

German. There followed a period of prosperity

that came to an end with the Thirty Years' War

(1618-48), but the village quickly recovered.

The numbers of farmsteads remained steady at

seventeen from the early 16th century onwards, and

the village did not begin to grow until the 20th

century. The ethnic makeup remained

predominantly German up to the creation of the

Czechoslovak Republic in 1918: in 1895 there were

157 inhabitants of German origin and only 19 of

Czech origin. By the time the ethnic Germans were

expelled at the end of World War II Czechs

remained in a minority.

The Definitive Cadaster of 1827 reveals that all

the farmsteads (with the exception of the barns)

in "Holschowitz" were built of masonry, not

timber-framed, as was the case in most of the

villages of Bohemia at that time. This tradition of

masonry building for domestic structures is a

characteristic of South Bohemia, no doubt

brought in from Austria and Germany.

Between 1840 and 1880 there was considerable

rebuilding in the villages of North Bohemia. This

process was later in South Bohemia, and the style

adopted, known as "Folk Baroque," is

characteristic of this region.

12

Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc

This memorial column, erected in the early

years of the 18th century, is the most

outstanding example of a type of monument

specific to central Europe. In the characteristic

regional style known as Olomouc Baroque and

rising to a height of 35 m, it is decorated with

many fine religious sculptures, the work of the

distinguished Moravian artist Ondrej Zahner.

Criterion i The Olomouc Holy Trinity Column is

one of the most exceptional examples of the apogee

of central European Baroque artistic expression.

Criterion iv The Holy Trinity Column constituted a

unique material demonstration of religious faith in

central Europe during the Baroque period, and the

Olomouc example represents its most outstanding

expression.

Following the Swedish occupation of this largely

medieval city at the end of the Thirty Years' War

(1648-50), four fifths of Olomouc lay in ruins and

more than 90% of its inhabitants had fled.

Although it lost its status as the capital of

Moravia, it remained an episcopal see and this

fact, coupled with the indomitable self-

confidence of its citizens, ensured its

regeneration.

13

In the post-war reconstruction the street pattern

of the medieval town was respected. However,

it took on a new appearance: over the

following century many impressive public and

private buildings were constructed in a local

variant of the prevailing style, which became

known as "Olomouc Baroque." The most

characteristic expression of this style was a

group of monuments (columns and fountains),

of which the Holy Trinity Column is the

crowning glory.

"... I shall raise a column so high and splendid it

shall not have an equal in any other town": these

were the words used by Václav Render, Olomouc

master stonemason, to describe his project for

building a religious column, which was submitted

to the City Council on 29 October 1715. The

project was approved on 13 January 1716 and work

started in the spring of 1717, Render financing and

carrying out most of it himself. In 1733, the year of

Render's death, the column had reached the height

of a single-storey building, with a chapel inside and

a central core clad in stone, together with intricate

stone-masonry detailing. In this first stage, in the

1720s, the first part of the sculptural decoration was

carried out by the Olomouc sculptor Filip Sattler.

In his will Render bequeathed almost all his

considerable fortune to the city for the completion

of the work. The remaining sculptural work was

carried out in 1745-52 by the distinguished

Moravian sculptor Ondrej Zahner (1709-52). In

the early 1750s, the topmost group and the group

representing the Assumption of the Virgin Mary

were cast in copper and gilded by the Olomouc

goldsmith Šimon Forstner (1714-73). The

Column was ceremonially consecrated on 9

September 1754, in the presence of the Empress

Maria Theresa.

14

Jewish Quarter and St Procopius' Basilica in Třebíč

The ensemble of the Jewish Quarter, the old

Jewish cemetery and the Basilica of St

Procopius in Trebíc are reminders of the co-

existence of Jewish and Christian cultures from

the Middle Ages to the 20th century. The

Jewish Quarter bears outstanding testimony to

the different aspects of the life of this

community. St Procopius Basilica, built as part

of the Benedictine monastery in the early 13th

century, is a remarkable example of the

influence of Western European architectural

heritage in this region.

The Jewish Quarter and St Procopius Basilica of

Trebic bear witness to the coexistence of and

interchange of values between two different

cultures, Jewish and Christian, over many

centuries. Criterion iii: the Jewish Quarter of Trebic

is an exceptional testimony to the cultural traditions

related to the Jewish diaspora in central Europe.

A Benedictine Monastery was founded in a

strategic position at the crossing of Jihlava River,

in 1101. Its existence stimulated the

establishment of a market, which brought traders

and amongst them also Jews. This was the

beginning of a structural development of the

monastery together with the settlement, called

‘Podklasteri' (lit. beneath the monastery) in its

immediate vicinity, and the town of Trebic itself

on the other side of the river.

15

The Jewish Quarter was sited in the focal

point of the commercially expanding

settlement, close to the monastery and the ford

across the river. Not having any defences, it

went through the same fate as the rest of the

town, and had to suffer of many attacks and

destructions, such as those in the 15th century

by the Hungarian king. In favourable years, the

site developed and prospered allowing the

necessary facilities to be built. In the 16th

century, orders were issued to expel the Jews

but these were not carried out. As a whole the

authorities were here much more tolerant than

elsewhere in Europe. In earlier years, the Jews

were involved in money lending, but also

working in some crafts: tanning, bead firing,

glove making, and soap making. From the 17th

century on, they were mainly involved in trade

and such crafts.

From the beginning, the Jewish Quarter had its own

self-government with an elected magistrate and two

councillors. In 1849, it had its own administration

led by a mayor, and it was called Zamosti (lit. over

the bridge). In the 1920s, the area was merged with

the town of Trebic, and the population started being

mixed. In 1890, there were nearly 1,500 Jews in

this area, but in the 1930s only 300 were of Jewish

faith. All Jewish residents were deported during the

Second World War, and none are left at present.

The houses are now owned by people of non-

Jewish faith.

The Benedictine monastery , established in the

early 12th century was richly endowed, and an

important centre of ecclesiastical life and

economic development. The first monastic church

was rebuilt during the reign of King Wenceslas I

(1230-53), being ready in the 1250s. After some

damage in 1468, the church was repaired at the

end of the century. During the first half of the

16th century, the monastery was rebuilt as a

castle, and fully renovated in baroque style in

1666-84. There were various minor changes also

in the basilica, which was then restored by a well-

known Czech architect, Frantisek Maxmilian

Kanka. The works began in 1726, and restoration

of the nave was concluded in 1733. Externally

several windows were widened and buttresses

added, the south-west tower was rebuilt, and a

new west front with two towers was constructed

in the style of gothicising baroque.

16

Kutná Hora: Historical Town Centre with the Church of St Barbara and

the Cathedral of Our Lady at Sedlec

Kutná Hora developed as a result of the

exploitation of the silver mines. In the 14th

century it became a royal city endowed with

monuments that symbolized its prosperity. The

Church of St Barbara, a jewel of the late

Gothic period, and the Cathedral of Our Lady

at Sedlec, which was restored in line with the

Baroque taste of the early 18th century, were to

influence the architecture of central Europe.

These masterpieces today form part of a well-

preserved medieval urban fabric with some

particularly fine private dwellings.

There has been human settlement in the Kutná Hora

region from early times. There was a mint there in

the 10th century AD, associated with the rich

deposits of silver ore. It was the latter that

determined the earliest occupation in what is now

the historic centre of the town, which seems to have

been occupied by numerous scattered mining

settlements in the 13th-16th centuries. The complex

street plan of Kutná Hora is attributable to this

early exploitation of the mineral resources,

although it preserves what is almost certainly an

anCient, nonurban road junction at its core, one

road leading to Malin and the other to Časlav.

This pattern of settlement appears to date from

the 12th century. The mid-13th century saw

major Changes in the occupation of the land. The

royal fortified towns of Časlav and Kolín were

founded in the early 1260s, both closely

associated with the silver mining in the area,

which quickly developed during the reign of

Wenceslas II (1285-1305) into a major industrial

region. The extent and intensity of this

exploitation of the mineral resources of Kutná

Hora is reported in documents of the period from

as far away as the Rhineland.

17

The Hussite wars of 1419-34 saw profound

changes at Kutná Hora. Sedlec Monastery was

destroyed by fire in 1421, to remain in a ruined

state until the late 17th century, and there were

serious fires in the town itself in 1422 and

1424 which destroyed most of its buildings.

However, the wealth resulting from silver

mining ensured that it was rapidly rebuilt when

peace was restored. Work on the churches was

led by two outstanding architects of the period,

Matĕj Rejsek and Benedikt Ried. The defences

were supplemented by an outer wall, with

irregularly spaced artillery bastions, and the

Hradek was rebuilt in Late Gothic style. The

town was also embellished by many splendid

merchant houses and with the system of

arcades that is such a feature of Kutná Hora.

The relative lack Of Renaissance buildings in the

town graphically illustrates the sudden decline in its

fortunes in the early 1540S, when the silver mines

became exhausted. The economic stagnation of

Kutná Hora was exacerbated by the after-effects Of

the Thirty Years' war (1618-48): although the town

was not itself directly affected by the war, it fell

into a deeper decline and over two hundred of its

574 houses were deserted or demolished. The

establishment of a Jesuit College in the 17th

century did little more than endow the town with a

striking new arChitectural feature, similar to the

High Baroque renovation of Sedlec cathedral in the

early 18th century by Jan Blažej santini and the

work of Killian Ignaz Dientzenhofer at the Ursuline

convent and the Chapel of the Holy Trinity.

The dissolution of Sedlec Monastery in 1785 was

followed by the deconsecration and demolition of

many of the town's smaller churches, and others

disappeared in the first half of the 19th century. It

was not until 1850, when Kutná Hora became an

administrative centre of some importance, that the

town began to revive and to begin to concern

itself about its architectural heritage.

18

Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape

Between the 17th and 20th centuries, the ruling

dukes of Liechtenstein transformed their

domains in southern Moravia into a striking

landscape. It married Baroque architecture

(mainly the work of Johann Bernhard Fischer

von Erlach) and the classical and neo-Gothic

style of the castles of Lednice and Valtice with

countryside fashioned according to English

romantic principles of landscape architecture.

At 200 km2 , it is one of the largest artificial

landscapes in Europe.

The Committee decided to inscribe the nominated

property on the basis of cultural criteria (i),(ii) and

(iv) considering that the site is of outstanding

universal value being a cultural landscape which is

an exceptional example of the designed landscape

that evolved in the Enlightenment and afterwards

under the care of a single family. It succeeds in

bringing together in harmony cultural monuments

from successive periods and both indigenous and

exotic natural elements to create an outstanding

work of human creativity. The Committee decided

to include criterion (i) to the proposed criteria since

the ensemble is an outstanding example of human

creativity.

This area has been inhabited since the Paleolithic

period, and has played an important role in

subsequent historical events up to and beyond the

Middle Ages. During the Neolithic and Bronze

Ages it lay on the important Amber Route from

the Baltic to the Mediterranean. It was on the

frontier (limes) of the Roman Empire, and so

there are Several forts in the vicinity. In the 8th

century the first Slavonic state, the Great

Moravian Empire, was founded in this region,

which later became part of the Bohemian state.

19

The Lichtenstein family came first to Lednice

in the mid-13th century, and by the end of the

14th century they had also acquired nearby

Valtice. These were to become the nucleus of

the family's extensive possessions, when Karel

I of Lichtenstein was given the title of Duke in

the early 17th century he made Valtice his

main residence and Leunice his summer Seat.

The two estates were later joined with the

neighbouring Břeclav estate to form an organic

whole, to serve the recreational requirements

of the ducal family and as material evidence of

its prestige.

The realization of this grandiose design began in

the 17th century with the creation of avenues

Connecting Valtice with other Parts of the estate. It

continued throughout the 18th century with the

evolution of a framework of avenues and paths

providing vistas and rides, imposing order on

nature in the manner of the Renaissance artists and

architects. The early years of the 19th Century saw

the application by Duke Jan Josef I of the English

concept of the designed park, strongly influenced

by the work of Lancelot "Capability" Brown at

Stowe and elsewhere in England

Enormous landscaping projects were undertaken

under the supervision of his estate manager,

Bernhard Petri; these included raising the level of

the Lednice park and the digging of a new

channel for the Dvje river. A number of romantic

elements were introduced into the landscape, the

work of the architects joseph Hardtmuth, Josef

Kornhausel, and Franz Engel. Smaller parks on

the English model, the so-called Englische

Anlagen, were also created around the Mlýnský,

Prostřední, and Hlohovecky ponds.

Litomyšl Castle

20

Litomyšl Castle was originally a Renaissance

arcade-castle of the type first developed in

Italy and then adopted and greatly developed in

central Europe in the 16th century. Its design

and decoration are particularly fine, including

the later High-Baroque features added in the

18th century. It preserves intact the range of

ancillary buildings associated with an

aristocratic residence of this type.

Litomyšl Castle is an outstanding and immaculately

preserved example of the arcade castle, a type of

building first developed in Italy and modified in the

Czech lands to create an evolved form of special

architectural quality. Litomyšl Castle illustrates in

an exceptional way the aristocratic residences of

central Europe in the Renaissance and their

subsequent development under the influence of new

artistic movements.

There has been a settlement since at least the 10th

century at Litomyšl, which is located at an

important communications junction on the main

road between Bohemia and Moravia, with its

fortified core on the hill where the castle now

stands.

There is known to have been a small church

dedicated to St Clement on this site, and a

Premonstratensian monastery was founded in the

town in the first half of the 12th century. The

monastery was closed when the bishopric was

created in 1344, its buildings being shared out

between the bishop and the chapter. The

document of 1398 relating to this partition

contains the first reference to an "old palace".

21

In 1425 the town was conquered after a siege

by the Hussites, who razed all the ecclesiastical

buildings to the ground. Restoration was

undertaken at the end of the Hussite Wars by

the new owners of Litomyšl, the Kostka family

of Postupice, and details of this building have

also been shown by recent investigations. It

was damaged by fire in 1460 and again in

1546; after the second fire, the castle was

confiscated by the king, but it was almost

completely gutted after a third fire, in 1560.

A fire in 1635 caused only slight damage to the

upper storey of the castle and this was quickly

repaired. The architect František Maximilián Kaňka

was responsible for considerable modifications

from 1719 onwards in the High Baroque style. Fire

struck yet again in 1775, and the repairs involved

some remodelling. Major alterations took place in

the interior in 1792-96, to the designs of Jan

Kryštof Habich, but he was careful to preserve the

fine Renaissance gables. Since that time there have

been no changes of any consequence in the

structure, design, or decoration of the castle.

The first courtyard formed part of the original

fortified settlement. The buildings associated with

it were all built or rebuilt during the course of the

modifications that the castle underwent over time,

and this is reflected in their architectural styles.

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Pilgrimage Church of St John of Nepomuk at Zelená Hora

This pilgrimage church, built in honour of St

John of Nepomuk, stands at Zelená Hora, not

far from Ždár nad Sázavou in Moravia.

Constructed at the beginning of the 18th

century on a star-shaped plan, it is the most

unusual work by the great architect Jan Blazej

Santini, whose highly original style falls

between neo-Gothic and Baroque.

The Vicar General of the Prague Archbishopric, Jan

(John) of Pomuk, died a martyr's death in 1393. In

1719 his physical remains were studied by a

commission appointed by the Archbishop of Prague

of the day when it was found that his tongue was

perfectly preserved, which was interpreted as

evidence of his sanctity. This initiated a wave of

enthusiasm for the cult of the martyr, and in

particular at the Cistercian monastery in Zdár nad

Sázavou, near the Bohemian border with Moravia.

This monastery had inherited the role of the

monastery at Zelená hora, near Nepomuk, where

St John Nepomuk received his early education,

which had been destroyed in the Hussite wars. It

was monks from Zelená hora who founded the

Zdár nad Sázavou house, whose abbot from 1705

until 1738 was Vaclav Vejmluva, a dedicated

follower of St John Nepomuk. He conceived his

project to build a church to the glory of the saint

which would at the same time demonstratet he

relationship betweent he two Cistercian houses.

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The church was intended from the start as a

place of pilgrimage. Work began in 1719, three

years before the formal canonization of John of

Nepomuk confirmed the unofficial status that

he had been given in his native Bohemia for

centuries. The architect was Jan Blažej Santini,

who had been working for Vejmluva since

1706 on various projects at the monastery. The

abbot worked closely with the architect in the

design of the church by laying down its

ideological framework, based on the

symbolism of the saint's tongue and the

numerological significance of the numbers 3

and 5 (the saint died at the age of 53).

The unfinished church was consecrated on 16 May

1720, the date of St John Nepomuk's martyrdom.

The construction of the main structure was

completed by 1721 and its preliminary furnishing

and decoration was celebrated by a second

consecration the following year, although work on

the cloisters and other ancillary elements was not

completed until 1727. Major items of its interior

furnishings, such as the main and side altars, the

pulpit, and the many statues, were added in later

years.

The church was a major centre of pilgrimage

from its foundation until 1784, when the

monastery was abolished. It continued as a place

of worship, and in the 19th century the cloister

was used as a cemetery; the tombstones of this

period survive in situ.

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Tugendhat Villa in Brno

The Tugendhat Villa in Brno, designed by the

architect Mies van der Rohe, is an outstanding

example of the international style in the

modern movement in architecture as it

developed in Europe in the 1920s. Its particular

value lies in the application of innovative

spatial and aesthetic concepts that aim to

satisfy new lifestyle needs by taking advantage

of the opportunities afforded by modern

industrial production.

The Tugendhat Villa is a masterpiece of the

Modern Movement in architecture. Criterion ii The

German architect Mies van der Rohe applied the

radical new concepts of the Modern Movement

triumphantly to the Tugendhat Villa to the design

of residential buildings. Architecture was

revolutionized by the Modern Movement in the

1920s and the work of Mies van der Rohe,

epitomized by the Tugendhat Villa, played a major

role in its worldwide diffusion and acceptance.

The Tugendhat Villa was designed by the

German architect, Mies van der Rohe (1886-

1969), for Grete Weiss and her husband Fritz

Tugendhat, members of wealthy industrial

families in the city of Brno in former

Czechoslovakia. The architect accepted the

commission in 1927, and the design process

lasted about two years, parallel with designing the

German Pavilion (1928-29) at the International

Fair in Barcelona, commissioned by the German

Government. The construction of the Tugendhat

Villa was completed by the end of 1930. The

architect took charge of the project down to the

smallest detail, also designing all the furniture of

the house, designs that have become world-

renowned.

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Mies van der Rohe was one of the principal

architects in the development of the Modern

Movement in Architecture, which

characterized design and construction in the

1920s and 1930s in Europe and North

America. Originally from Aachen and then

working in Berlin, he was influenced by the

work and teachings of Behrens and Berlage, by

the principles of the De Stijl movement, as

well as by Frank Lloyd Wright. His early

interests were in developing design concepts

for high-rise buildings in reinforced concrete

and glass in the early 1920s: he designed the

Weissenhof apartments in Stuttgart in 1927,

another key work in the Modern Movement.

From 1926 Mies van der Rohe was a member

of the Deutscher Werkbund, and from 1930 to

1933 he was Director of the Bauhaus in

Dessau.

During the German occupation, the Tugendhat

family left Czechoslovakia and the Villa was taken

over by the German State in 1939. It lost most of its

original furniture, and was subject to some

alterations and damage - eg that caused by a bomb

explosion in the neighbourhood in 1944. After the

war, the building was taken over by the State of

Czechoslovakia; it served a nearby children's

hospital and then the national health institute of

Brno, becoming the property of the City of Brno.

In 1962 the Villa was protected as a national

monument. There was increasing interest in

restoring it, and the first study to this effect was

made in 1971, leading to a restoration campaign

in 1981-85, which guaranteed the continuation of

the use of the building on a provisional basis. The

Tugendhat Villa Fund was established in 1993,

followed by the decision of the Friends of the

Tugendhat Fund to undertake a scientific

restoration of the building. This work took place

beginning in 1994 and funds were raised to

furnish the building with replicas of the original

designs by Mies van der Rohe.

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MADE BY ANNA KRZYSZCZAK FROM THE POLISH TEAM