Holašovice
A restored Baroque village with a medieval plan and Rural Baroque buildings.
Holašovice is a small historic village in the south of the Czech Republic, 16 kilometres west of České Budějovice. It belongs to the municipality Jankov and lies near the protected landscape area of Blanský Forest. The village was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998 due to its exceptional preservation of a traditional Baroque-era village.
Quick Facts
- Population
- 147
Facts from the source article.
History
Holašovice is first mentioned in 1263. In 1292, King Wenceslaus II gave the village to the Cistercian monastery of Vyšší Brod, which held it until 1848. Between 1520 and 1525, the bubonic plague killed all but two inhabitants; a column over the plague grave at the north end commemorates this. The monastery repopulated the village with settlers from Bavaria and Austria, and by 1530 the population was 17, forming a German-speaking enclave. After the Second World War, German residents were displaced, and many farms fell into disrepair under the Communist regime. From 1990, the village was restored and repopulated, now with about 140 inhabitants.
Buildings and architecture
Holašovice consists of 23 brick farmsteads containing 120 buildings, along with a fish pond, a forge, and a chapel. The farms are built in the South Bohemian Folk Baroque style, arranged in U shapes with stucco gable ends facing a central village green. Most buildings date from the second half of the 19th century, and the chapel of St. John of Nepomuk was built in 1755.
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