The beginnings of Tábor are linked with the Kotnov fortified castle from the end of the 14th century. In 1420, the Hussites founded a town right near it named “Hradiště hory Tábor”.
The beginnings of Tábor are linked with the Kotnov fortified castle from the end of the 14th century. In 1420, the Hussites founded a town right near it named “Hradiště hory Tábor”. With the gradual completion of the town’s fortification walls, Tábor became the most fortified town in Central Europe. Part of these fortifications have remained preserved even today, as have some bastions. The most important monuments of this second-largest South Bohemian city are concentrated on Žižkovo náměstí (Žižka Square) – the dominant building is the Church of the Transfiguration of our Lord, and the late Gothic Town Hall is also architecturally very valuable. The town square is surrounded by burgher houses, mostly from the late 16th century. There is an intricate network of underground passages located beneath the entire historic centre of Tábor. The nearby Jordán fishpond, founded in 1492, is considered to be the oldest manmade reservoir in the country. Originally it provided the town with drinking water, but today is used for recreation.
Bechyně is located in the picturesque countryside at the confluence of the Lužnice River and Smutná Stream and was founded by King John of Luxembourg in 1325. The Bechyně Castle is privately owned but is still open to the public. Its interiors house an exhibition of the South Bohemian Aleš Art Gallery (mostly ceramics), a museum dedicated to the painter Vladimír Preclík, a Firefighter’s museum, and a Museum of Hiking, founded here in 2006. The town square is embellished with the Deacon Church of St. Matthew. A characteristic dominant feature of Bechyně, as well as its symbol, is the concrete bridge spanning the Lužnice valley since 1928; its bold arch set at 50 meters above the Lužnice River has earned it the nickname of the “Bechyně Rainbow”. The bridge serves for car, train, and pedestrian traffic.
This used to be a Rožmberk castle on a hill of the same name, founded in the late 13th century by Beneš of Choustník. This was a “double castle”, meaning that its castle walls held two palaces that belonged to two separate owners. Choustník was very thoroughly and very well fortified, which prevented it from being overtaken even during the fiercest times of the Hussite Wars. The castle has been listed as abandoned since the beginning of the 17th century. Its massive castle fortification walls have been preserved, as have its two square towers. The larger tower serves as a lookout tower for visitors.
This underground cave system was formed by water st