Svatá brána / Holy Gate by Karel Würbs - Kadan (North-West Bohemia) [edit]
N 50° 22.621 E 013° 16.109
33U E 376883 N 5581984
This print of etching by Czech artist Karel Würbs depicts (from the west direction) one of the key landmarks of town Kadan, Gothic Svatá brána (Holy Gate), together with lately demolished parts of outer line of the town' fortification system.
Waymark Code: WM12D1C
Location: Ústecký kraj, Czechia
Date Posted: 05/02/2020
Views: 22
This print of etching by Czech artist Karel Würbs depicts (from the west direction) one of the key landmarks of town Kadan, Gothic Svatá brána (Holy Gate), together with lately demolished parts of outer line of the town' fortification system. All structures (bastion, first gate, walls, old houses...) visible in the front of the gate-tower, were demolished soon after artist created this work (1842) and tower itself was subsequently reconstructed.
Karel Würbs (August 12, 1807 - July 6, 1876) was a Czech draftsman, painter, lithographer and pedagogue. Würbs' graphic works are well-crafted, characterized by careful workmanship and precision with a sense of detail. Würbs used good mastery of perspective when depicting cities and architectures. His work shows several intertwining stylistic influences that were typical of the Czech veduta of the first half of the 19th century.
The Gothic tower of the Holy Gate (Svatá brána), also called Mikulovice Gate (Mikulovická brána), is one of the most important parts of the historic fortifications of the Royal city of Kadan. It was the main gate separating the Old Town of Kadan from the New Town on the western side.
The Holy Gate was built at the end of the 13th century as part of a massive city fortification, which surrounded the entire Royal city in two to three strips. At the suggestion of Jan Hasištejnský of Lobkowicz, a leading Czech aristocrat and humanist, the suburban district of Nové Mesto Kadanské (New Town of Kadan) began to grow just outside the Holy Gate around 1500. At that time, the gate was still called Mikulovice Gate, because the road leading from it led to village Mikulovice. The name was changed to the Holy Gate only in 1532, because from here it was possible to visit the pilgrimage Church of the Fourteen Saints Helpers.
The Holy Gate used to have an intricately structured forecourt, popularly called "Šance". It consisted of the first gate, which was decorated with a relief with a now unknown biblical motif. This gate was also covered by a circular bastion with eight loopholes. Between the first gate and the Holy Gate in the tower, there was a second gate. The forecourt was demolished together with the circular bastion in 1842. The Holy Gate acquired its present appearance in the years 1877-1878, when it was also supplemented with a new clockwork.
Source: excerpted and translated from
Wikipedia
and
National Heritage Institute portal.