Hradec Kralove is nowadays the eighth largest city in the Czech Republic. The name [Hradec] itself meant a little castle, the attribute "Kralove" is a substantivized adjective "kralova" [Hradec Kralove was a dowry town of the Czech queens who used to stay there.] Also the name Hradec Kralove nad [upon] Labem was used.
At the end of the 9
th century a huge fortified settlement was erected on the hillside at the confluence of the Labe and the Orlice rivers and at the turn of the 12
th and the 13
th centuries it started to change into a town. That is annotated as early as in 1225 in the document by King Premysl Otakar I. In the 14
th century Hradec was among the most important cities in the Czech kingdom. The fact that in 1306 it became a dowry town and Czech Queens Eliska Rejcka and Eliska Pomoranska stayed there contributed to its importance as well. The largest building of the period was
the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit.
In the period of the Hussite wars at the beginning of the 15
th century Hradec became one of
the Hussite centres. At that time many hisorical monuments were destroyed including the royal palace. The new cultural development began in the second half of the 15
th century and continued in the following period when the town was
reconstructed in the Renaissance style. The most valuable relics are a decorated ladies' belt, the late Gothic Madonna, and a collection of illuminated manuscripts the most famous of which is the so-called Franus Hymn Book. The most important building of the time was the White Tower built in 1574-80. There one can find the second biggest bell in Bohemia - Augustin.
During the Thirty Years' War Hradec Kralove was several times afflicted directly by events of the war, causing much destruction in the town. Its new cultural and architectural development began with the arrival of the Jesuits and with the foundation of the Hradec Kralove bishopric. That is why many of the objects preserved are of religious origin. The monumental Baroque buildings constructed during the 17
th and at the beginning of the 18
th centuries changed not only the inner character of the town but also its sky-lines.
The most beautiful
Baroque building is the Bishop's Residence built in 1709-16 and adapted in 1777. The Jesuitical Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was designed in 1654-66 by
Carlo Lurago. Also belonging to it was the Jesuit College dating back to 1671-1710. After the Jesuit order had been abolished, it became a grammar school where many prominent figures taught.
In 1709-14 the Church of St. Jan Nepomucky with the Bishop's Seminary was built. In the place where the oldest town church used to be,
the Chapel of St. Kliment was built by Giovanni Santini. The Baroque reconstruction affected the whole town. Among the best-preserved houses was the Canons' Residence near the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit and the House "U Spulaku".
In 1765 Josef II. decided to turn Hradec Kralove into a military fortress. This completely changed the town and the whole surrounding area. The extensive suburbs had to be pulled down and the town was enclosed by the massive walls without any further development. The fortress finished in 1789 was at its time an outstanding technical achievement but its military importance was continuously on the decrease. The evidence of this fact was the battle between Austria and Prussia in 1866. The crucial battle was fought just near Hradec Kralove at nearby Chlum on 3
rd July 1866. After long-lasting negotiations the town managed to buy back the plots of the fortress and the walls. The subsequent demolition of the military fortress continued gradually until the 1930's.
At the end of the 19
th century thanks to the providence of the town representatives an international competition for a new town regulatory plan was held in 1884. The plans have been modified several times since. The most famous regulatory plan was worked out by Josef Gocar in 1926-28. Since the beginning of the century, mainly on the right embankment of the river Labe, complex urban areas with spectacular buildings designed by prominent Czech architects have been constructed. As early as the 1930's Hradec Kralove became the most modern town in the Czech Republic. After World War II., all new housing projects carried out in Hradec Kralove continued to be based on
Gocar's spatial concept, and the expansion and development of the town's system of radial roads continued. In spite of all restrictions in the 50'-80's, the architects of Hradec Kralove succeeded in maintaining not only the original urban concept but also good quality new urban and land use planning.
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