Budějovice

Budějovice stands at the meeting of the Vltava and Malše in southern Bohemia. King Ottokar II founded the royal town in 1265, entrusting its plan to his knight Hirzo. Fortified with three gates, it grew wealthy through crafts, trade and silver mining nearby. Its great square and churches were the centre of a town that became an important seat of royal power in the south of the kingdom.

Jewish families received permission to live within the walls in 1341 and built a synagogue in 1380, but violence and expulsion followed in 1505–1506. The fortifications resisted Hussite forces, yet the Thirty Years' War and a great fire in 1641 devastated the town. Much was rebuilt in the Baroque style. In 1785 a bishopric was founded here and the Church of Saint Nicholas became its cathedral.