Městské opevnění ve Stříbře Town walls

Městské opevnění ve Stříbře in Tachov district consists of partially preserved medieval walls from the mid-13th century. This cultural monument is important in its role in defending the city during the Hussite wars. There are still sections of walls, towers and gates in the historical centre and in the Lower Town.

The fortification was created in the middle of the 13th century when King Václav I. founded the city in the place of the older mining settlement. Probably there was also the first fortification of the Lower Town. His walls are very thick in some places, which suggests the importance of this silver mining section. In the troubled end of the 14th century, the city's strength was strengthened.

The inner city has approximately a circular plan of about 12 hectares. The course of the walls was determined by the terrain boundaries of the Mje valley in the south and east and the valley of the Těchlovický creek in the north and northeast. Most of the preserved parts of the inner city lead just along the edges of the terrain, which is why the original moat and park are mostly missing. In the west, however, traces of the ditch are visible. In the southwest there is a two-metre thick wall on the outboard of the trench. These masonry include Žizkov's bastion with rectangular firing holes, which had originally carved lining. The width of the walls is approximately 200 centimeters. In the western section, the base is over two metres wide and the upper part is 170 centimetres wide. A wall of about 210 centimeters thick is preserved in the Lower Town.

During the Hussite wars, the city stood on the side of Emperor Zikmund. The military captain Jan Havonec of Švamberg maintained a crew of 200 militants here. Stříbro resisted the attempt to conquer Jan Zizkou, but in 1426 the city was dominated by Přibík z Klenové with the support of Jan Zlastlik's troops from Svoshín. A year later, the city successfully defended the Crusader's army, even though the walls damaged the siege cannons. In the first half of the 16th century, repairs were carried out on the walls, such as roofing, plastering or grafting on the rolls. Since the beginning of the 19th century, the fortifications were gradually torn down and the stones were used to build houses. The lower gate was demolished in 1839 and the upper gate in 1877.

The remains of the fortifications are today protected as a cultural monument. Among the most significant elements are the Renaissance passageway tower at the bridge over the Man, built in 1555-1560 by the builder Benedict Volch of Ferrol. The tower stands at the road bridge, which is a separate monument with the statue of St. John Nepomuk from 1721 by Lazarus Widmann. In Lower Town you can see Koubka's goal. Its ground floor dates back to the 1930s and the passage is 290 centimetres wide. The other preserved parts are a torso half-circle tower north of the square and a bastion in Pilsen Street.

Městské opevnění ve Stříbře offers a view of the medieval architecture and history of the mining town. He's an important witness to the past worth visiting.