Radnice (Kaplice) Town hall

The town hall in Kaplice is a Renaissance building with Baroque modifications. Located on the square in the historical heart of the town in the district of Český Krumlov in the South Bohemia region and is a protected cultural monument. This building is a major urban dominant and its present form came from Renaissance foundations, building modifications after fires and reconstruction in the nineteenth century.

Originally a market village on its way from Bohemia to Austria was promoted in 1358 by Markart from Pozešín to a small town. In 1434, Oldřich II. z Rožmberka acquired this property, making a five-leaf rose into the city emblem. The presence of a town hall in a building on the square is first documented in a Czech written urbarian from 1553. In the 16th century, the Renaissance reconstruction of the town hall took place, the Czech countries were under the rule of the Habsburg monarchs, the influence of the Italian Renaissance was reflected in culture, and Europe experienced a period of humanism and development of urban communities.

The architectural development of the building is connected to several stages. In the middle of the sixteenth century, the Italian master Clement rebuilt the building into Renaissance form and as the only house in the square it had a floor. At that time, the object stood on the vault peeling only to the tower on the square which was founded in 1555. After the great fire of the city in 1718, which destroyed one hundred and sixteen houses and the roof construction of the town hall and tower, the tower was raised. She got an eight-sided banana roof with a lantern and a little fun. The tower with this baroque onion fighting has survived to the present and forms the main dominion of the town hall. In 1851 the building was expanded with side houses and the current form was created in the reconstruction carried out by builder Jan Girka in 1852. Further modifications were made in 1939.

The object owner is the city Kaplice. Over the centuries, the inner spaces of the town hall served various purposes. The lower town hall mazhaus worked as a pub, and later there was a police officer, a prison and a wood warehouse.

Key historical events associated with this place include the year 1358 and promotion to the town, fire in 1718 and military maneuvers in 1895, during which the city visited Emperor František Josef I. In memory of this imperial visit, a commemorative plaque was placed in the blind window of the town hall in 1896, but it has not been preserved until today.

Today the town hall with the address of Square No. 70 serves as the seat of the City Office Kaplice. The west facade of the building is oriented to the square in the urban monument zone, the south facade is directed to the Kostelní street and the east and north side of the building is connected to the wall of neighbouring houses.

The visit Kaplice offers a view of the historical core, which lies on the river Malš at the northwest edge of the Novohradské hory, approximately twenty kilometres southeast of Český Krumlov. A tour of the Renaissance-Baroque Town Hall with a preserved tower presents an opportunity to know the architecture and history of this South Bohemian region.