Náchod

Náchod lies on the Metuje below a castle guarding an old road from Prague toward the Kłodzko lands. Knight Hron of Načeradec founded the castle and town in the thirteenth century, and walls and bastions followed in the early fourteenth. In 1544 the Smiřický family acquired the estate and rebuilt the fortress as a Renaissance residence, while granting the town extensive privileges.

After the Battle of White Mountain the family's property was confiscated. In 1634 the emperor gave Náchod to his general Ottavio Piccolomini, whose family rebuilt the castle in Baroque style. War and forced recatholicisation troubled the town, yet its first street was paved in 1638. After a fire in 1663 a new town hall was built and the Church of Saint Lawrence was rebuilt on the square.