Zprávy památkové péče 2014, 74(3):230-237

Small typologically similar urban settlements in the Malše River basin

Michaela Špinarová, Jindřich Špinar

There is a significant segment of the urban heritage in the Czech Republic that consists of small towns that do not contain individual iconic architecture and perhaps are not, therefore, part of the public or broad professional awareness. This makes seeking out their similarities and regional specificities the more interesting. The ancient Cáhlovská trail leading along the Malše River from South Bohemia to Upper Austria saw the establishment of four small urban settlements in the Middle Ages which, despite their different historical developments, in the past were exceptionally similar in their urban and architectural forms. Three of them are located in the Czech Republic, the fourth in Austria. Upstream of the Malše are successively the towns of Velešín, Rychnov nad Malší, Leopoldschlag, and the former town of Cetviny. If, up until the middle 20th century, it would have been possible to take a sample of one of these towns to describe the features of all of these picturesque towns, the later development showed an absolute complete parting in their fates, levels of conservation, and the resulting appearance of each. Recent and especially current trends that affected this diversification are still essential and characteristic for heritage care in the protection of individual monuments and residential structures, and not only in the area of the former borderlands. These locations have not been declared as reservations or zones.

Keywords: small settlement units, protection of cities, Velešín, Rychnov nad Malší, Leopoldschlag, Cetviny, Pomalší

Published: September 1, 2014  Show citation