Royal and Dowry
We would like to present nine
Czech towns which are said to be „royal and dowry“ … They belong to the most
beautiful and most interesting Czech towns. All these towns had been bequeathed
by Czech kings to their wives since the beginning of the 14th century. Hradec,
Chrudim, and Vysoké Mýto were given to Elizabeth Richenza (in 1307), later
Charles IV donated them to Eli-zabeth of Pomerania. The other towns acce-ded
still later and in the end Nový Bydžov became a royal dowry town in 1569. In 1603
they were singled out from the other royal towns and they got under the
administration of a special royal underchamberlain. The economical and
political influence of these towns began to vanish after the Battle of the
White Mountain (1621). But their legal form ceased to exist as late as in 1918,
after the independent Czechoslovak state had been established. What can these
towns offer you today? First of all rich traces of history connected with Czech
queens. Complexes of outstanding monuments, museums, galleries, a lot of
contemporary cultural and social events, festivals and feasts. And landscape
beauties, places for leisure time, enjoyment …
Mělník e. g. is renown for
growing vine. There is a zoo with the world known safari in Dvůr Králové,
Braun's Nativity is also near. Trutnov - the entrance gate to the highest Czech
mountains - the Krkonoše. Nový Bydžov takes pride in a number of Jewish
monuments and discoveries of Peter Brandl's paintings.
You can find one of the largest squares in the
country in Vysoké Mýto, in Polička, the birthplace of the world famous composer
Bohuslav Martinů, a Middle Ages town fortification is situated, is in Chrudim
the best-known European museum of marionettes. Jaroměř is know for its
legendary Josephine fort. And finally Hradec Králové - an urban unity unique in
Europe with many modern constructions in the Art Nouveau and Functio-nalism
styles, the town was denoted as the „Salon of the Republic“ because of them.
