Jičín

Jičín lies on the Cidlina in eastern Bohemia, its streets laid out around a rectangular market square. Founded as a royal town in the thirteenth century, it was sold by King John to the Wartenberg family in 1337. After a great fire in 1572, many wooden houses were replaced by stone Renaissance buildings; the Valdice Gate formed part of the rebuilt defences.

Albrecht von Wallenstein acquired Jičín in 1621 and made it the centre of his Duchy of Friedland. He minted coins there and employed Italian architects to rebuild the castle and Church of Saint James. His plans divided the town into ceremonial and craftsmen's quarters and linked a summer residence to it by an avenue of lime trees. The Jesuits received a church and college in 1627, but Wallenstein's death in 1634 interrupted his ambitious rebuilding.