Jicín

Jičín (German: Titschein, Gitschin or Jitschin; Latin : Giczin) is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It lies approximately 85 km northeast of Prague (Praha) in the scenic region of Bohemian Paradise (Český ráj) under the Prachov Rocks (Prachovské skály). 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 Jičín has been declared a municipal reserve (městská památková 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 Jičín was probably founded at the end of the 12th century, in the place of today's village of Staré Místo (i.e. Old Place), under the castle of Veliš. 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 Jičín 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, Jitčino město 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.

Jičín 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 Jičín changed its lords several times until it became a property of the House of Trčka of Lípa in 1487 and it remained so until 1607. With the succesion of Vilém Trčka 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 Holín 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 Trčka was built on the southern side of the square, together with a similar Hetman's house on Lesser Square (Malé náměstí). In 1607 the palace was completely rebuilt by by Zikmund Smiřický but it was badly damaged during a big fire after an explosion.

The biggest expansion of the town started in 1621, when the town became a property of army commander Albrecht von Wallenstein (Albrecht z Valdštejna), who made it the center of his Frýdlant duchy and even minted his own coins there. Several architects worked for him, notably G. Marini, A. Spezza, G. Pieroni and since 1630 N. Sebregondi. He had the palace (locally known as Zámek, i.e. château) and the Church of St. James rebuilt completely in the North-Italian style and connected them via a roofed footbridge. The church, intened as a seat of a never established bishopric, has never been completed, so it lacks a spire and a cupola. The town was to be rebuilt completely into a modern town with separated representative and craftsman parts. The letter was placed into the New Town started in 1624 to the north of the central square with the Church of St. Mary de Sale and a new cemetery. Much of these plans remained unfilled due to the early death of Albrecht von Wallenstein in 1634, after which the town lost much of its importance. The parish Church of St. Ignatius together with the college was given to the Jesuits in 1627 who started to In 1630, the construction of a villa with a loggia (Libosad) was started to the north-east of the center. There was a Baroque garden in front of it and a park around. It is connected with the town by a 1,7-km-long alley of lindens. Near Libosad, in the today's village of Valdice, a Carthusian monastery with the Church of Assumption was founded in 1627. It served as the tomb of the house of Wallenstein until 1785, the monastery is used as a prison today.

It 1710 the town became a property of the House of Trauttmansdorff, which meant the arrival of the period of High Baroque, during which many constructions were completed. A lot of statues and sculptures to be found in the town today come from this period. In 1784 Jičín became the seat of a new region. During the first half of the 19th century the town was spreading quickly, mainly eastward. Later, in the second half of the 19th century, many Neo-Renaissance houses were built. After World War II, during communist rule, many prefab apartment complexes sprung up around the town.

Lords on Jičín

• ????—1297 — the king
• 1297—1304 — Beneš of Vartenberk
• 1304—1304 — Lev of Kenecchlumí
• 1304—1304 — the king
• 1327—???? — the House of Vartenberk
• 1438—1452 — Hašek z Valdštejna
• 1452—1487 — Jiří and Hynek of Poděbrady
• 1487—1607 — the House of Trčka of Lípa
• 1607—???? — Zikmund Smiřický
• 1621—1634 — Albrecht von Wallenstein
• ????—???? — the House of Tiefenbach
• ????—???? — the House of Sternberg
• 1710—???? — the House of Trauttmansdorff
• 1784—???? — seat of the region

External links

• Jičín's city Web site (in Czech)