Chrudim, East Bohemia
N 49° 57.103 E 015° 47.683
33U E 557011 N 5533565
The Baroque Old Town Hall (Stará radnice) in Chrudim, originally a Renaissance house with a Gothic core, is one of the most ornate and striking buildings located in the main town public space - Ressel Square (Resslovo námestí).
Waymark Code: WM12FTQ
Location: Pardubický kraj, Czechia
Date Posted: 05/18/2020
Views: 14
The Baroque Old Town Hall (Stará radnice) in Chrudim, originally a Renaissance house with a Gothic core, is one of the most ornate and striking buildings located in the main town public space - Ressel Square (Resslovo námestí).
The administration of the town passed from the hands of the Royal bailiff to the municipality in the years 1363-1395 and at that time the Town Hall was also established in Chrudim. A building standing on the site of current building N° 1, the so-called Old Town Hall, has probably been used for the needs of the city since Hussite times. The Town Hall building was no longer sufficient for the growing needs of the city in the middle of the 16th century. Therefore, it was completely rebuilt in the Renaissance style around 1560. The building was extended in 1563 by arching Fortenská Street leading to the Pardubice Gate. The rear part of the town hall with an arcade was rebuilt into a courtyard before 1590. Vaulted cellars from the Gothic period have been preserved to the present day, where there was a torture chamber and a warehouse for valuables. Chrudim was destroyed by a large fire in 1641 and the town hall was also damaged. The current rich Baroque exterior the Old Town Hall acquired in 1720. The Town Hall burned down again during a large fire of the surrounding houses in 1806. Repaired was according to the plans of Chrudim builder Jindrich Hausknecht in 1807. Statues of Justice and Love by sculptor Karel Devoty were installed on the Baroque gable towards the square next to the tower in 1808. Clocks from the Chrudim watchmaker Prokop Kozlansky were installed in 1836. The building was also modified in 1895, when builder Emanuel Jerábek set up a new three-armed staircase with rest areas and the courtyard gallery was glazed.
Today's Old Town Hall is a single-storey building with a symmetrical facade to the square. The main entrance to the building is lined with a Baroque portal with a compressed segmental arch and a richly profiled cornice with a pair of volutes. In the middle of the portal is a cartouche with the city coat of arms. Above the crown cornice of the building is a dynamically undulating massive attic with gables. On the side are smaller gables with stone vases, above the middle and more massive gable are statues, in the middle is a clock tower. In the gable is a massive stone gilded relief of a double-headed crowned eagle - CoA of the Holy Roman Empire, which carries on its chest the CoA of the Kingdom of Bohemia. The municipal office moved to the buildings on the opposite side of the Square in 1854 and the Old Town Hall was then the seat of the District court until 1927. After that, the building served various purposes. The police office and the municipal prison, the room for temporary accommodation of homeless people, the apartment of the municipal butler found its seat here. For some time, the State embroidery school was located here. At present, the Chrudim Information Center and the Municipal Police are located here.
Chrudim, a district town in Eastern Bohemia, is the second largest town in the Pardubice Region of the Czechia. Chrudim lies 110 km east of Prague and about 11 km south of Pardubice. Approximately 23,000 inhabitants live here. It forms a conurbation with Slatinany and is part of a larger Hradec-Pardubice agglomeration. For centuries, Chrudim used to be the center of the Chrudim region, which roughly corresponds to today's Pardubice region. It was not until the 19th century that it was surpassed in size and importance by Pardubice, which benefited from a more transport-friendly location on the Elbe and the main railway. The center of Chrudim has a preserved medieval structure with significant buildings with old city walls and was declared a City monument zone in 1990.
The first documents on the settlement of the city are documented by archaeological materials from the turn of 5-4. Millennium BC In the years 995 to 1055, the first Premyslid fort was built. Bretislav I died here in 1055 during his military campaign, Kosma's record of this event is the first reliable mention of Chrudim. From the existing fortified settlement in 1263 by the colonization efforts of Premysl Otakar II. a real medieval town was created. [wiki]