Písek

Písek stands on the Otava in southern Bohemia, its name meaning 'sand' after the riverbeds where early inhabitants panned for gold. King Ottokar II founded a royal town here in 1254. A castle rose above the ford, a monastery was established and a stone bridge crossed the river. A mint also operated here before it was moved to the silver town of Kutná Hora.

Písek became the administrative centre of Prácheňsko in the fourteenth century; under Charles IV its salt and grain warehouses were among Bohemia's largest. Hussite forces later took the town and destroyed the monastery. In 1619–1620, during the Thirty Years' War, the army of Count Bucquoy conquered Písek and killed most of its inhabitants. The royal chamber recovered it in 1623, and its status as a royal town was restored in 1641.