Radnice v Benešově nad Černou Building

Welcome to Benesov over Montenegro. Right now, you're facing one of the most important buildings in the city, which is the town hall. If you look at it, you'll see a beautiful house with a rectangular base, which is gently leaning on a slight slope in the north of the square. It's a place where time stops and where you can feel the hollow space of history in every stone. Feel its overall form, which combines the transition of two great epoch, goth and renaissance, and thus creates a harmonious image that is not so common these days. Now let's go back a little bit in time to understand how this place came to be. The story of the town hall begins in the year of a thousand five hundred seventy, when Jakub Krčín z Jelčan a Sedlčan built a brewery here. At that time, beer was an important source of income and a heart of economic activity. But the city grew and the needs of administration changed. A few decades later, specifically in 1594, a building was created that you see before you in its present form. It was built as a town hall to serve as a centre of power and administration for the inhabitants and noble families who ruled around. The history of this place is closely linked to important personalities. In the year of a thousand sixties one took over the city into its ownership of Jan Jiří ze Švamberka, which left its mark. Together with him, names like Maria Magdalena di Biglia appear in connection with the city, which shows us that Benešov nad Černou was not just a small town, but a place where the paths of influential people crossed. Now I ask you to pay full attention to the details that you can see right in front of you. Look carefully at the stone entrances, the portals. They're the dominance of the entire building. Note the delicate decoration in the shape of five-leaf roses. These roses are not just a random ornament, but they are a symbol of the mighty Rožmberk family, which had a great influence in these areas. It's fascinating how such a small detail tells about political ties and who was holding the reins in their hands at the time. When you've already focused on the lower part of the building, raise your eyes higher, towards the front of the first floor. Notice the sun clock. At a time when no one had digital devices in their pocket, these clocks were a necessary helper for all the bystanders to know just how much time it was. Next to the clock you will also see a historical coat of arms that are carried out in the form of frescoes. These paintings on the plaster are silent witnesses of the past and remind us of the people and families who once decided on the fate of the city. The whole facade works like an open book, which you just need to read carefully. Let's stop for a moment with one interesting thing that may not be visible at first sight, but it's important to understand how the town hall looked earlier. If you look at the space around the building, you might feel that there might be something more. And you're right. Originally attached to the town hall was the brewery wing, which follows the beginnings of this place, which we talked about at Jakub Krčín. But this wing remained a memory because it was demolished in the late 1970s, namely in the year one thousand nine hundred seventy-eight. That changed the silhouette of the building we know today. However, the town hall survived these changes and in the year one thousand nine hundred and ninety-five it underwent a repair, which is now in such good condition and can be registered in the Central List of Cultural Monuments of the Czech Republic. It's fascinating to think how many generations of people have gone through these portals with five-leaf roses. How many debates took place in the town hall and how many views fell on the sun clock on the facade. The building stands in a slight slope, which gives it a certain dynamic character, as if reaching from the square. It is a place where the craftsmanship of unknown architects combined with the ambition of a nobleman and the needs of the people. Now that you have looked at the main details and learned about the history of this Gothic-Renaissance house, I would advise you to take a moment quietly to perceive the atmosphere of the square. Try to imagine the sound of cars on stony roads and hKrav people meeting here hundreds of years ago. Radnice v Benešově nad Černou is more than just an administrative building, it is a monument to time and human effort. Thank you for coming through the history of this beautiful place. I hope that this information has enriched you and that you have noticed all the details, from the little roses on the portals to the sun clock high on the wall. Now you can continue to explore the beauty of this city. I wish you a pleasant walk and many other discoveries. Goodbye.