Ji?ín : Czech Republic
Ji?n (German: Titschein, Gitschin or Jitschin; Latin : Giczin) is a town in the Hradec Krlov Region of the Czech Republic. It lies approximately 85 km northeast of Prague (Praha) in the scenic region of Bohemian Paradise (?esk rj) under the Prachov Rocks (Prachovsk skly). Because of its well preserved historical center, built around a rectangular square with a regular Gothic street layout, with remnants of fortification and arcade Renaissance and Baroque houses Ji?n has been declared a municipal reserve (m?stsk pamtkov rezervace). The town is also connected with the popular fairy-tale character of Rumcajs.
History
The surrounding countryside was settled by Slavic tribes at the beginning of the 6th century. The town of Ji?n was probably founded at the end of the 12th century, in the place of today’s village of Star Msto (i.e. Old Place), under the castle of Veli. But it was soon moved 2 km northward to its present location, which was better protected by the River Cidlina. The first written reference of Ji?n comes from a document by Queen Guta (Jitka) dated August 1, 1293. It is believed, that the town was named after her (meaning Guta’s town, Jit?ino m?sto in Czech). The town was built with a regular street layout around a rectangular square and was surrounded by wooden fortification with reinforced bastions and a trench.
Ji?n was first a king’s property, but during most of the 14th and at the beginning of the 15th century it belonged to the House of Vartenberk. At the same time the town was founded two churches were built, a wooden parish church at the south-western corner of the square and, at the south-eastern corner, the stone Church of St. James the Great with a cemetery. The first was rebuilt in stone into the Parish Church of St. Ignatius at the end of the 14th century.
During the 15th century Ji?n changed its lords several times until it became a property of the House of Tr?ka of Lpa in 1487 and it remained so until 1607. With the succesion of Vilm Tr?ka in 1453, the town started to be rebuilt in stone, the fortification was rebuilt too, with three gates connecting the center with peripheries: western Prague Gate (built in 1577), northern Holn Gate and eastern Valdice Gate (1568), which is the only one preserved until today. After a big fire in 1572 most of the wooden houses were replaced by stone Renaissance buildings, often decorated with sgrafitoes, the parish church was rebuilt too. In the second half of the 16th century a small palace of the House of Tr?ka was built on the southern side of the square, together with a similar Hetman’s house on Lesser Square (Mal nm?st). In 1607 the palace was completely rebuilt by by Zikmund Smi?ick but it was badly damaged during a big fire after an explosion.
