Idea #250 – Visiting the old town of Telc
The City of Telc, situated near the southwest border between Moravia and the Bohemia, is quoted for the first time towards 1333-13335, when the existence of an important castle is mentioned. The City was doubtless established in the middle of the XIVth century. Up to the decrees Benes of 1945, the city, as well as its neighbor Jihlava, was mainly populated by the Germans of the Sudetes.
Telc developed on the hilltop, around the marketplace in the shape of lengthened triangle. The city was surrounded with a curtain, doubled by moats. The Gothic castle was reconstructed in late Gothic style in the XVth century, before being reshaped in the XVIth century by Zacharie de Hradec. Following another devastating fire, this Lord also makes reconstruct the marketplace in the same style. The city, which results from all these works, constitutes a remarkable example of town planning and architecture of the Renaissance.
In the XVIIth century, roof corners were added on the facade of certain houses of the marketplace ; later changes brought rococo and classic elements. The parochial church Saint-Jacob presents a plan to two naves of the beginning of the XIVth century; a choir of Renaissance style was added to him in 1638, and the Gothic tower was crowned by a baroque dome in 1687. The industrial revolution of the beginning of the XIXth century comes along with a considerable cultural awakening in the region and with a bigger prosperity, but the city of Telc was however able to maintain its traditional character. It did not suffer excessive restorations, so that its buildings, as well as its urban landscape, kept all their authenticity, both in the used materials and in their typology.
Some Pictures
Where is it ?
Telc, Czech Republic.
Larger Map
