"Katovna" / "The Hangman's House" - Litomerice-Zásada (North Bohemia) - Pre-Victorian Historic Homes on Waymarking.com

Former Hangman's House (Katovna), built in 1701 outside the old walls of Litomérice in Zásada, is the last preserved historic timbered building in Litomerice.

The first Slavonic habitation in today's Litomerice originated from the 8th century. From the 9th century on, there has been a large residential agglomeration created from about twenty settlements or mansions. Zásada was one of them (the first evidence came from the year 1057); however, it never formed part of the later medieval town but it remained outside of its walls.

The first written document about the origin of the city came from the year 1234. The city was an important administrative centre and had its own executioner. The location of the oldest hangman's house is not known; however, it is suggested to have been both a prison and a place of torture and, as such, it was separately located outside of the city. An executioner apparently lived in the original fortification bastion called Baba where he also tortured people. Torture was also carried out in the basement of the Town Hall. Public pillorying and beheadings took place at the city square. Burnings of people at the stake and hangings occured outside of the city walls on gallows hill. A town scaffold with gallows and a part of Zásada, devastated by the Swedish army in the course of the Thirty years war, can be seen on the oldest ground plan of Litomerice from the year 1640.

Existing timbered "Hangman's House" was built in Baroque style outside the walls of Litomerice in Zásada in 1701. The house served as the residence of Litomerice executioners until the middle of the 19th century. Jan Ledvina (1786—1868) was the last executioner of Litomerice and he is known for his controversy with the poet Karel Hynek Mácha. Jan Ledvina was married three times and had a total of 21 children - however, only 14 sons and daugthers survived to adulthood. When the builder Alexandr Grandissa from Litomerice bought "Hangman's House" in 1919, two direct descendants of Ledvina were mentioned as tenants — sisters Anna Ledvinova and Frantiska Schilhabelova. However, since "Hangman's House" was in poor conditions, the sisters moved to the urban asylum house in 1925. Extensive renovation of the building took place in 1927-1928. Owing to a shortage of housing, four of the apartments were again occupied during the final stage of the ongoing works. The house was also damaged by a fire in the year 1931. A "Hangman's House" fell again into disrepair after the end of the WWII. Unlike other buildings of Zásada, however, the house escaped demolition during the construction of the housing estate in the 1980's. The businessman Jan Sup bought the house in the year 1994 and subsequnety it was renovated (1994-1996). Today, You can find in "Hangman's House" a restaurant (a basement and ground floor), offices (first floor) and the company FASE (the attic). The executioners tools (instruments of torture, shackles and two executioners swords) from "Hangman's House" are now on display at the Museum of Litomerice.