Pardubické městské opevnění se Zelenou bránou Town walls

The town fortification in the village Pardubice-Staré Město represents a set of incoherent preserved sections of walls, vales and moats from the Renaissance period. The most important preserved element is the Green Gate. This monument testifies to the earlier military strategy and development of the city in the early New Testament.

The fortification was probably built in the 15th century. In the charter of the Litomysl bishop of 1349 Pardubice as a fortress city are not listed. The fortification process was probably related to the purchase of the Pardubice estate by Wilhelm of Pernštejn in 1491. Building development was further accelerated after the great city fire in 1507.

The strength system consisted of three lines of walls. By 1511, the trenches were completed before the original walls of the ground with corner rolls. The second line of walls was built at the top of these valleys, with subseats and several bastions. The third line was a park. Two gates led to the city: on the west side of the Green Gate (originally Prague) and on the east of the White Gate. Both towers were rebuilt after the fire in 1538.

The green gate is a Renaissance structure with a tower and a vanguard. Its current form is the result of the historic reconstruction on which Josef Mocker, František Schmoranz and Bóža Dvořák worked.

During the 30-year war, the Pardubice wall system was further improved. Thanks to this he resisted repeated siege by the Swedes in 1639, 1644 and 1645, more than a hundred years after its creation. The military importance of the walls decreased with the construction of Baroque forts in Hradec Králové and Josef. The encroachment began around 1770, the White Gate was demolished in the middle of the 19th century.

Fragments of the walls are spread out in various parts of Old Town today. In the area of Příhradek there is a section of the wall with part of the natural wall in the wall of the granary and another section between houses in St. Anežka's street. In the vicinity of houses with numbers 30, 40, 41 and 47 are preserved sections of masonry, some integrated into buildings with broken windows. At Jonah, there is a wall of quarry stone with a stone lining of windows and a blind entrance to the front with stone crackers. Behind the houses of 50 and 51, there is a torso of the natural wall with a classic gazebo.

Other sections with remains of gunshot holes or fences are located in houses with numbers 56-71 and 63-64. The longest continuous part of the original fortification consists of the west wall of house number 75, leading to the Green Gate. This section has an apparent segmented armored firing range and a drop for the former gallery; has been completely reconstructed in 2013.

Close to the Green Gate, the fragments of the masonry are walled up between the library buildings and the banks. Another section consists of front walls of houses with numbers 119, 122 and 123, to which the bell tower of St. Bartholomew's church is attached. At the northern portal of this church is a freely accessible segment of the wall with the bridge of the city crest where three arches are visible. In Kostelní street the northern walls of the houses number 95-104 form part of the original walls. The elements of the masonry are also hidden in the house number 20 and at the tower gate of the Ticket.

The preserved fragments of Pardubice walls and the dominant Green Gate form a unique trail of Renaissance urbanism and defensive construction. A tour of these incoherent sections allows you to look into the original structure of the city, which is a place suitable for every interested person in history.