Městské opevnění v Domažlicích Fortifications

Domažlice originated on the site of an earlier settlement no later than the first half of the thirteenth century. Due to its proximity to the Bavarian border, it was soon surrounded by fortifications, which are first documented in the year 1288. From the extensive fortification system, the Lower Gate with its adjoining sections of walls, the wall at the southeastern corner, and the forecastle of the southern gate have been preserved. The remnants of the fortifications are protected as a cultural monument.

The rulers frequently pawned the town, which caused disputes between the townspeople and the pledge holders. Charles the Fourth pawned it in 1349 to Henry of Hradec. Five years later, he asked the townspeople for help against him, and yet he had to capture the town probably by force. In 1373, the townspeople managed to prevent a Bavarian incursion into the suburbs. In the Hussite Wars, the town belonged to the Taborite union from 1421 onwards, and in 1431 it resisted an attempt at conquest by the army of the fourth crusade. It also held out in border wars in the second half of the fifteenth century.

The historic town adapted to the narrow terrain ridge above the Zubřina creek. Its axis is a long street-like marketplace between the Upper and Lower gates. At its peak, the fortification consisted of the main wall, a barbican with its own wall, a ditch, a rampart with an outer wall, and an outer ditch. The main wall was about 220 centimeters wide and at a height of approximately 550 centimeters it was topped by a wall walk with battlements. It was divided by roughly 25 towers at thirty-meter intervals. The rampart was dismantled and the ditches filled in during the first half of the nineteenth century.

The town was entered through the Upper Gate, the Lower Gate, and the Týnec Gate, and there was a simple gate leading to the Zubřina. Of the large gates, only the prismatic tower of the Lower Gate remained. Its early Gothic portal was closed by a portcullis, and behind it there were double doors secured by a heavy bolt that slid out from a socket in the masonry. The passage was vaulted with a Renaissance barrel vault. The upper stories were probably created during the restoration of the fortifications following the siege of 1354. In the second half of the fifteenth century, the portcullis was removed and a fourth story was added.

By the southern gate, an entrance corridor with walls one meter thick and loopholes was preserved, ending above the Zubřina with a simple portal.

Part of the defense system until the mid-sixteenth century was also a round city tower by the Church of the Birth of the Virgin Mary. From its position, it enabled control of the town and the wide surrounding area. It reached its present height following several reconstructions in 1545.