About Jindřichův Hradec

Jindřichův Hradec is located in the picturesque landscape of South Bohemian ponds, northeast of České Budějovice.

History

The first mentions of the Přemyslov hillfort date back to the 9th-10th centuries. Around 1220, the first lord of Hradec, Jindřich, built a Gothic castle on the foundations of a Slavic castle, which he called the New Castle. The name of the castle was soon transferred to the emerging market settlement in the foothills. Thanks to its strategic location between Prague and Vienna, this settlement soon experienced unprecedented growth. The year 1293 was a turning point, when Jindřichův Hradec was first mentioned as a city. By this time, Hradec had most likely already had its fortifications completed, and in the following decades the planned construction of mainly stone townhouses continued.

The prosperity of the city continued smoothly in the 15th century and reached its peak in the 16th century, during the reign of Henry IV. From Hradec and his son Adam. Renaissance buildings were added to the Gothic buildings, mainly thanks to the presence of many Italian builders, rebuilding the castle into a modern castle. The golden age of the city ends in 1604, when the lords of Hradec died, and the estate was taken over by Vilém Slavat from Chlum and Košumberek. The outbreak of the Thirty Years' War was the beginning of the decline of Jindřich Hradec, even though at that time it was even the second largest city in the entire Czech Kingdom. At the end of the 17th century, the Černín family from Chudenice took over the estate and owned it until 1945. In 1773, a devastating fire hit Jindřichův Hradec, and in 1801 another, even more catastrophic one. Over 300 houses burned down and several dozen people were burned to death. Jindřichův Hradec acquired a new classicist look after the fire.