About

Travelling through the Czech Republic, the visitor can see many historic buildings of diverse types, erected in course of past centuries. Regarding my “List”, I focus on edifices, representing the fundamental architectural types that emerged in the Kingdom of Bohemia. Founded by members of the upper-class, there are castles, summer palaces, manors and chateaus. I would like to explain the following terms:

Hradiště corresponds to “Walled-in-Settlement”, “Fortified Settlement” or “Oppidum”. This term is used for prehistoric settlements, particularly Slavonic, which served as fortresses, refugees and / or centres of administration. This type was predecessor of the mediaeval Castle and / or town.

Tvrz is – literally speaking – “Fortress”. Actually, this term is used for the small country seat of petty noblemen; it actually corresponds to “Manor”. This type of building was often integrated into the village or the town; its core was the house of the landlord plus out-buildings, usually isolated from the precincts.

Hrádek is – literally speaking – “Little Castle”. This term is used for small fortified building, comparable to Tvrz / Manor. It played similar role as the Castle. This type of fortified building was often erected to protect major roads and / or the boundary. The two terms, used to describe the two similar types of fortified seat, is difficult to distinguish. Some authors take liberties with the two terms. Hrad corresponds to the “Castle”. This term is used for the mediaeval fortified building; its fundamental function was defence, administration and residence. The Castle was often built in an outlying place, nevertheless, the settlement, that often gradually emerged round the Castle, was sometimes the predecessor of the future town. The Castle was furnished to meet the feudal lord´s claims for a representative residence and administration; it served often as a temporary residence of the king.

Zámek corresponds to the ”Chateau”. Character of some buildings, described in Czech as Zámek, correspond to the term Manor. The Chateau was the direct follower of the aforementioned nobleman´s country seats. Many of Chateaus emerged thanks to rebuilding the early seats, corresponding to the transformation of the feudal lord's claims for residence, representation etc. Most of Chateaus are representative building, erected not far form the neighbouring village or town. Usually, the Chateau is surrounded by a park or a garden.

Palác corresponds to the “Palace”. It was originally the residence of the lord feudal within the Castle. This term is used for the representative residence of the noble family in the town. Thanks to the monumental character and rich decoration, it distinguished from neighbouring houses of the common. This term is also used for imposing architectures of the 20th century, both private and public.

Letohrádek corresponds to the “Summer Palace”. It is a building intended for temporary residence. Erected mostly in the park or the game park, its architectural character is comparable to the Chateau.

Data used for this List were carefully gathered and selected from the sources and literature. Regarding the advances in researching history, some inaccuracies, which I apologise for, may be found in my text.

Josef M. Šafránek jmsafranek@seznam.cz

Your remarks, actuations and queries are welcome at email adress of project manager.

Authors

Photographer

  • Helena Šulcová

Project participants

Text

  • Ing. Arch. Petr Chotěbor CSc. (text k areálu Pražského hradu)
  • Bc. Zuzana Šafránková-Součková (text k českým panovníkům)
  • Ing. Arch. Viktor Procházka (text k objektům Pražského hradu)
  • Jaromír Schoffer (text k objektu v Nemili) - předseda Občanského sdružení Tvrz Nemile u Zábřehu
  • Helena Šulcová
  • Eva Prajzlerová (*5. 1. 1932; +26. 4. 2017)

Drawings

  • Josef Šafránek st.
  • Ing. Arch. Petr Chotěbor CSc.
  • Josef Šafránek ml.
  • Josef M. Šafránek
  • Marcela Vichrová M.A.

Fotos

  • Petra Vaňková
  • Helena Šulcová
  • Josef Šafránek ml.
  • neznámý autor (vykoupené pozůstalosti z Antikvariátů)
  • Petr Vaňata
  • Andrea Vaňatová
  • František Habada
  • František Prokop
  • Ing. Tomáš Lainka
  • Josef Jelínek st.
  • Věra Zajíčková
  • Zuzana Barjatarevičová
  • Petr Vinš
  • Barbora Janatová
  • Bc. Zuzana Šafránková-Součková
  • Martin Souček
  • Ing. Arch. Viktor Procházka (fota Pražského hradu)
  • Renata Jahodová (fota Pražského hradu)
  • Ing. Arch. Petr Chotěbor CSc.
  • Ing. Arch. Radka Sedláková
  • PhDr. Jiří Bartoň
  • Petr Voříšek
  • Michaela Fišerová
  • fotograf Jan Gloc (mobil: 605 299 108, )
  • Jaromír Schoffer ()
  • Jan Scháněl
  • Stáňa Rádlová
  • Dominika Rádlová
  • manželé Ilčíkovi
  • Jakub Šafránek
  • Mgr. Monika Škodová (a castle manager at Potštejn - www.zamekpotstejn.cz)
  • Vladimír Strnad
  • Ing. Alice Vaňková

Image documentation

  • Mgr. Hylmar Tomáš (soukromá sbírka pohlednic)
  • Josef M. Šafránek (soukromá sbírka pohlednic)
  • Eva Prajzlerová (soukromá sbírka pohlednic)

Technical support

Database processing

Realization of web pages

Translation to english

  • PhDr. Magda Němcová

Corrector

    • PhDr. Eva Neumannová
    • Eva Prajzlerová (*5. 1. 1932; +26. 4. 2017)
    • PhDr. Renata Škaloudová
    • Petra Vaňková

  This site uses cookies to make them easier to browse. Learn more about how we use cookies.

Accept allSettingsReject all