HISTORY

This beautiful former royal city of Pisek, which lies in Southern Bohemia, has been the location of a rich history and cultural life from its early beginnings. One of the most interesting sights besides the many others is the oldest stone bridge in Czech Republic. Pisek lies around the river Otava, which flows through the city and is the reason for the name of the city. The city was named after the sand of the river where gold was panned out from the sand of the river long time ago. According to texts, Celts were the first known people who panned out the gold in the Pisek area.

The first mention about Pisek was made by King Vaclav I in a letter dated 1243 and it is believed to be him who founded the castle and the town in year 1240 for the protection of gold-bearing deposits. The castle and town were founded on the place where Ovata River was crossed by an important trade road called the Golden Path, which was connecting Bohemia, Austria, and Germany. The Bohemian king Pøemysl Otakar II was the main builder of the castle and the town between 1253 and 1278. The generous construction of the castle corresponded with his frequent stays at the castle. During an archeological survey in year 1968 and a small excavation of the courtyard, a broken roman column was discovered, dating back to the first half of the 13th century at the latest.

The castle had four wings, three towers, and two giant halls. Only one original castle wing with a so-called Knight’s Hall was preserved after numerous adaptations, reconstructions, and demolitions. The core of the castle was formed by a square, on the west side towards the river were the walls, and on the opposite side towards the city square was the main entrance gate with a drawbridge and a ditch. Next to the gate was a door for pedestrians, which had its own little bridge. The Gothic Dominican monastery, which was partially destroyed at the beginning of the Hussite Wars, Dean’s Church and the Stone Bridge were built-up by the same builders who built the castle. The Stone Bridge, which is nowadays the oldest preserved bridge in Bohemia, is a national cultural monument and a real gem of the town.

In the plans for the city, Pisek the castle was incorporated in such a way so that it was built into the perimeter layout of the city. In the year 1254 the city already stood on the right shore of the river Otava and its core were the Velke Namesti (Large Square) and evidently right after the formation it was divided by the building of a full block building dividing the large square into two equal parts east and west. This type of division is thought to be quite uncommon in those times but most likely was done due to the location of the castle, which was taking up the completely northwestern section above the river. This was from the bridge to the Dominican monastery.

On the western side of the city, the castle was incorporated into the city-fortified defenses, which surrounded the new city with a tall inner wall and with a somewhat lower wall with an allure (wall walk). Only in front of that, the city was surrounded by a ditch on all sides except on the side of the castle where it was replaced by the river. The castle was a very dominant building in Pisek and it can be seen clearly from how the roads were leading around it. It did not matter from where you entered the city and where you were going, one still had to pass by the castle.

The city had three entrances, which were to the directions of Prague, Ceske Budejovice, and Prachatice. The Prague road led from the northwestern side of the city and went directly to Prague along the river Otava and the second road was the only one with a need for a bridge and one that went in the direction of Plzen and Cheb. This division into two roads took place right outside of the gates and more or less still exists today. The Budejovicka Brana (Budweiser Gate) was the second entrance into the city but not much is known about it today as it does not exist anymore but it could be easily located from estimates and excavations. It was located on the eastern side of the city where the same road and buildings exist. The Putimska Brana (Putim Gate) was the southern entrance into Pisek and was built quite high up with a steep road to it. This gate had the double defense walls and was supported by a drum tower, which still stands today, however the actual gate door is no longer there along with the southern wall to the right of the gate.

If we return to the history however, initially the city of Pisek belonged to the Netolice lands but when Pisek outgrew the capabilities of Netolice to take care of Pisek the office with a bailiff or steward was also created in Pisek.

The castle owned much of the land around it with forests such as the Pisek Mountains and lands of Mirotice but surprisingly very few villages belonged to the Pisek castle. It is though that the villages that belonged to the castle were the village of Cizova, Krepice, Zatavi, which by the way was given to Pisek in 1332 by the King Jan Luxembourg, Semice and a few more. Around that time, the castle and its forest lands were owned by a unknown friend of the King, but as soon as the Kings son, margrave Karel returned to Bohemia, he bought out the castle in year 1334 and returned it to the ownership of the crown.

The castle was occupied and taken care of by the burgrave who was a military commander and who had in his hands the role of chief caretaker of these royal lands. A secondary officer also existed who took care of pensions and his powers reached to the town of Vodnany.

Only a few kings spent time at the Pisek castle and they were, King Jan Nekdy who resided there in year 1341, Emperor Karel IV resided at the castle from 1352 to 1363 and finally King Vaclav IV who is thought to have been the last king to live in Pisek. King Vaclav IV then in 1419 transferred the castle with all belongings to the burgrave of Pisek, Jan Hajek who was from Hodetin. The only agreement that was made was that Jan Hajek was not allowed to sell or allow to be occupied by foreigners.

Pisek belonged to the main defenders of the chalice in the Hussite Period. In the beginning of the Hussite revolution and in that same year of 1419 the Pisek city council however took over the care of the castle and a city state was established lasting for thirty years until the year 1453. Then the King Ladislav Pohrobek signed over to someone with the name Malovec. In 1479, a noticeable change was made by then the caretaker or possibly owner named Jindrich from Jenstejna who had a large hall painted with late gothic paintings. These were the Adoration of the Three Kings, Kalvar, witnesses Vaclav and Vojtech, a castle siege, a tournament, King Vladislav II, King Ladislav Pohrobek, Jiri from Podebrad, the French King Karl VII, and 32 coat-of-arms.

Te prosperity of Pisek was continuously growing; the mark of its prosperity was the construction of the 71-meter high tower of Dean’s Church in 1489 and in 1509, by the purchase of the royal castle by the city. It were the sons of then the owner and caretaker of the castle and its lands, from 1495, Hynka Pluha from Rabstejn, sold these properties to the city of Pisek that kept the ownership until 1547. That was the year when the promising development was stopped by an unsuccessful resistance movement against the Hapsburgs and would be again later. It is not clear what the whole castle was used for during those fifty-two years but it is clear that some of the parts of the castle were abandoned and some were used a storage. It is also known that at some point one part of the castle was transformed into a city hall.

The city of Pisek suffered a catastrophe in 1532 when it experienced a horrible fire that destroyed the castle to such an extent that from then it was never the same and only a part of the castle was kept up after that. In 1547, it has been written that the castle then was kept abandoned. Afterwards the city and properties were confiscated by the king to be used for the war against King Ferdinand I, and were returned in 1558 but not with all the properties that were initially taken.

During the Thirty Year War, Pisek was attacked and conquered three times in year 1619 and 1620 by the emperors’ army. During the last conquest nearly the whole town was destroyed, the population was massacred, and in 1621 the castle together with the city were again confiscated and turned over to don Martin de Hoeff-Huert and Filip Arrizag. However, Filip Arrizag gave his share of the properties to the don Martin de Hoeff-Huert in 1623, who had chosen Pisek as a permanent residence until his death in 1637. At that time, the castle again became abandoned and was not even mentioned in official documents in 1638. The city and the castle was step by step renovated and parts of the castle are known to have been then made into and served as shops, storage, and a jail. Furthermore, the chapel, which was part of the castle, had been made into a brewery earlier and in 1680, together with a tower collapsed as the brewery was expanding its cellars, and undermined the tower.

In 1741, Pisek was seized again by an enemy army and it led to the great lack of food and fuel. The tens of thousands of French and Bavarian soldiers furthermore caused the deaths of many people since the army became an occupational force until June 8 1742 when the army detachments surrendered in Pisek. In 1751, the northern wing of the castle was destroyed in order create more space as between the bridge and the castle a space was needed for the new barracks which were already being built and were finished in 1757. With this construction, the large tower was also destroyed as parts of the castle were intruding into the city fortifications.

Around 1851, the old City Hall was torn down, with it went the eastern wing of the castle and along with its entrance tower. By now, really what was left was the western wing that was along the river. Pisek continued to lose its medieval character in the 19th century when the city walls and city gates and towers were pulled down and modern houses were constructed in the outskirts. This century represented a rapid development of mostly light industry and trade and well as a school system and various societies. The remnants of the castle have been turned into a museum, which is marvelous, and a gem itself.

One noteworthy thing to mention took place on June 23, 1887, when the noted Czech engineer Frantisek Krizik lit the town's first five electric arc street lights, only the second town to be lit this way in the country. A year later, a hydroelectric power station was built to provide the town's electricity. It fell into disuse, but was brought back online in 1994.

Otherwise, in the twentieth century, the city continued losing historical buildings and especially during the communist era only to be replaced by degenerate communist architecture which is an eyesore next to the beautiful medieval buildings. After the fall of the communism, many homes were quickly repaired and painted bringing Pisek to its “former” glory.