177 CZECH REPUBLIC - Jewish Quarter and St Procopius' Basilica in Trebíc

The Jewish Quarter of Třebíč is an exceptional testimony to the cultural traditions related to the Diaspora in central Europe, and bears witness to the coexistence of and interchange of values between two different cultures, Jewish and Christian, over many centuries. The World Heritage site is in the town of Třebíč, and it has three distinct components: the Jewish Quarter, the Jewish cemetery and St Procopius Basilica, all situated on the north bank of the River Jihlava. The Jewish Quarter rises from the river up on the hillside. The urban layout is characterized by two main streets, linked with the riverside through a number of small medieval alleys, some of which go through the houses. The buildings are vernacular in character, consisting generally of a vaulted ground floor and one or two upper floors with wooden ceilings. Some of the facades have features dating from the Renaissance or Baroque period, but many are of later date, until the 20th century. Because of political constraints, the Jewish quarter was limited in space. Its natural limits meant that this area was never fully fenced, although there was separation (eruf ) until 1875, after which Jews were free to move and buy property elsewhere. As a result, wealthy people moved out, and the area remained in the hands of the poor. Characteristically the area is organized in condominiums. At street level there was often a shop or a workshop, the upper levels being reserved for residential use. There is no special typology for a Jewish house, which is characterized more in terms of the use of a limited space and the condominium structures. This leads to linkage of different houses through acquisition of spaces from neighbouring buildings. In Třebíč the area has preserved all essential social functions, synagogues, schools, etc., as well as a leather factory.

The oldest mention of a synagogue is in 1590; the present Old (Front) Synagogue, from 1639-42, a simple Baroque building, is today used as a Hussite church. The New (Rear) Synagogue dates from the 18th century; it has been restored and serves as a museum and meeting room. In the 16th century, orders were issued to expel the Jews from the Jewish Quarter but these were not carried out. As a whole the authorities were more tolerant here than elsewhere in Europe. Earlier the Jews were involved in money lending, but they also worked in some crafts (tanning, bead-firing, glove-making, soap-making). From the 17th century they were mainly involved in trade and crafts of this kind. From the beginning, the Jewish Quarter had its own self-government with an elected magistrate and two councillors. In 1849, it had its own administration led by a mayor, and it was called Zamošti ('over the bridge'). In the 1920s the area was merged with Třebíč, and the population became progressively mixed. In 1890, there were some 1,500 Jews in this area, but in the 1930s only 300. All Jewish residents were deported during the Second World War, and none are left at present. The Jewish Cemetery is situated above the Jewish Quarter, behind the hill. Access for carriages was arranged via a special road. The current cemetery has two parts, the first part from the 15th century and the second from the 19th. There are some 4,000 stones and some of them bear important carvings. At the entrance there is a ceremonial hall, built in 1903, which is still intact. St Procopius Basilica is situated in a good position on the hill with a view over the whole of Třebíč. It was originally a monastic church (13th century) and part of a Benedictine monastery (founded in 1101). Now it is linked with the castle built on the site of the monastery after its destruction in the 16th century. This is partly due to the mixture of Romanesque and early Gothic elements. It is a triple-choired, three-aisled basilica with an elongated presbytery, an open north porch with square plan, and two western towers. Beneath the east end and the presbytery, there is a crypt with pointed rib vaults. The basilica is built from granite and sandstone. The exterior of the basilica is in square-cut granite blocks. The west elevation is in Baroque style, with 'Gothicized' features in it, and it has plaster rendering. The walls of the interior are now bare, although some traces of original plaster have been discovered in the choir. The nave has Gothicized Baroque vaults with rendered fields.

About the sender

Petr Wohlmuth (direct swap) sent from Prague (Czech Republic) on 26.02.2014

164 CZECH REPUBLIC - Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc (UNESCO)

The Olomouc Holy Trinity Column is one of the most exceptional examples of the apogee of central European Baroque artistic expression. Columns of this type constituted a unique material demonstration of religious faith in central Europe during the Baroque period, and the Olomouc example represents its most outstanding expression. In the reconstruction following the Thirty Years' War (1648-50) the city of Olomouc took on a new appearance. Many impressive public and private buildings were constructed in a local variant of the prevailing style, which became known as 'Olomouc Baroque'. The most characteristic expression of this style was a group of monuments (columns and fountains), of which the Holy Trinity Column is the crowning glory. Václav Render submitted the project to the City Council and work started in the spring of 1717. In this first stage, in the 1720s, the first part of the sculptural decoration was carried out by the Olomouc sculptor Filip Sattler. The remaining sculptural work was carried out in 1745-52 by the distinguished Moravian sculptor Ondrej Zahner (1709-52). The Column was ceremonially consecrated on 9 September 1754, in the presence of the Empress Maria Theresa.

In essence, the basic ground plan of the Holy Trinity Column is derived from a circle 17m in diameter. From the circular base, which has eighteen peripheral guard stones linked by a forged chain, a staircase of seven steps rises to the column's first level, the ground plan of which is hexagonal. The first level comprises a small chapel, again with a circular ground plan. At the points of the hexagon there are six conical balustrades. At the points of the hexagon, supported by six massive pedestals richly decorated on three sides with motifs such as scrolls and acanthus, are to be found the first six larger than life-size statues of saints (c. 220-240 cm) adjoining the body of the chapel on the first level. The first level is richly decorated with fluted pilasters, ribbon motifs, conches, relief cartouches with relief figures of apostles and other masonry details. The same pattern is consistently repeated in both the second and third levels. The second level retains the ground plan of the first, and is crowned by the second group of six statues of saints, placed on isolated pedestals. The third level tops the base of the column. It recedes slightly towards the centre, its periphery furnished again with six massive pedestals carrying the third row of six saints, another row of six relief figures of apostles and rich masonry decoration. This base of the third level supports a monolithic pillar 10 m high and richly decorated with fluting and acanthus motifs. The sculptural group of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is mounted on the first third of the monolith, the figure of the Virgin Mary supported by a pair of angels. Again, the group is executed on a larger-than-life-size scale, in gilded copper. On the top of the pillar-monolith itself, crowned by a capital featuring scroll and acanthus motifs, there is a group of God the Father giving a blessing and Christ with the cross, both placed on a globe, with the figure of the Archangel Michael below. The entire structure is completed by a radial target-star with a dove in the centre, to symbolize the Holy Spirit. Once more, the entire group is on a larger-than-life-size scale in wrought and gilded copper. The overall height of the column is 35 m. The concept of the Holy Trinity involved the two principal elements of the essential hierarchy of values in the Baroque period. Faith and religious tradition are intermingled with the idea of the city - its traditions, protection and civil administration. The ideas of Christianity and of citizenship (allegiance to the city in the best meaning of the word) combine here as a triumphal statement in the form of a stone monument.

About the sender

Klára Mrázková (direct swap) sent from Ostrava-Proskovice (Czech Republic) on 17.02.2014

152 CZECH REPUBLIC - Litomyšl Castle (UNESCO)

Litomyšl Castle is an outstanding and immaculately preserved example of the arcade castle, a type of building first developed in Italy and modified in the Czech lands to create an evolved form of special architectural quality. It illustrates in an exceptional way the aristocratic residences of central Europe in the Renaissance and their subsequent development under the influence of new artistic movements. There has been a settlement since at least the 10th century at Litomyšl, which is located at an important communications junction on the main road between Bohemia and Moravia, with its fortified core on the hill where the castle now stands. A document of 1398 contains the first reference to an 'old palace' and castle at Litomyšl. Archaeological and historical investigations have revealed remnants of the medieval structure beneath and within the Renaissance castle. In 1425 the town was conquered after a siege by the Hussites. Restoration was undertaken at the end of the Hussite Wars by the new owners of Litomyšl, the Kostka family of Postupice. It was damaged by fire in 1460, in 1546 and it was almost completely gutted after a third fire, in 1560. The ruined structure was granted in 1567 to the Vratislav family of Pernštejn, who received a royal grant to reconstruct it. Work began in 1568 under the supervision of Jan Baptista Avostalis (Giovanni Battista Avostalli), who was joined by his brother Oldřich (Ulrico). Most of the work had been completed by 1580. The architect František Maximilián Kaňka was responsible for considerable modifications from 1719 onwards in the High Baroque style. Major alterations took place in the interior in 1792-96, to the designs of Jan Kryštof Habich, but he was careful to preserve the fine Renaissance gables. Since that time there have been no changes of any consequence in the structure, design or decoration of the castle.

Litomyšl Castle was originally a Renaissance arcade-castle of the type first developed in Italy and then adopted and greatly developed in central Europe in the 16th century. Its design and decoration are particularly fine, including the later High Baroque features added in the 18th century. The castle is a four-winged, three-storeyed structure with an asymmetrical disposition. The western wing is the largest, whereas the southern wing is no more than a two-storeyed arcaded gallery to close the square second courtyard (a feature that is unique to Litomyšl). This groin-vaulted arcading continues round the western and eastern sides of the courtyard. The south-eastern corner of the eastern wing contains the castle chapel. Of the features in the interior of the castle one of the most striking is the fine neoclassical theatre from 1796-97 in the western wing. Constructed entirely of wood, it can seat 150 spectators in nine loggias and its lower floor. The original painted decoration of the auditorium, stage decorations, and stage machinery have survived intact. The Renaissance main staircase of the castle is located in this wing, which houses some finely proportioned Renaissance rooms decorated for the most part in neoclassical style in the 18th century. The other two wings have comparable interiors, basically Renaissance in form and with lavish late Baroque or neoclassical ornamentation in the form of elaborate plasterwork and wall and ceiling paintings. The paintings simulate three-dimensional compositions with ornamental mouldings from Roman antiquity. The paintings are coordinated from one room to the next. The buildings associated with the castle were all built or rebuilt during the course of the modifications that the castle itself underwent over time, and this is reflected in their architectural styles. Among the ancillary buildings, the most interesting is the Brewery, which lies to the south of the first courtyard. Originally constructed as a counterpart to the castle, with sgraffito decoration, it was substantially reconstructed after the 1728 fire and received what is its present appearance, which blends elements of high Baroque and neoclassicism, after the 1775 fire.

About the sender

Petr Wohlmuth (direct swap) sent from Prague (Czech Republic) on 15.02.2014

133 CZECH REPUBLIC - Tugendhat Villa in Brno (UNESCO)

The Tugendhat Villa is a masterpiece of the Modern Movement in architecture. The German architect Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) applied the radical new concepts of the Modern Movement triumphantly in the Tugendhat Villa to the design of residential buildings. The villa was designed by van der Rohe for Grete Weiss and her husband Fritz Tugendhat, members of wealthy industrial families in the city of Brno in former Czechoslovakia. The architect accepted the commission in 1927 and the villa was completed by the end of 1930. The architect took charge of the project down to the smallest detail, also designing all the furniture of the house, designs that have become world-renowned. Mies van der Rohe was one of the principal architects in the development of the Modern Movement in architecture, which characterized design and construction in the 1920s and 1930s in Europe and North America. Originally from Aachen and then working in Berlin, he was influenced by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. During the German occupation, the Tugendhat family left Czechoslovakia and the Villa was taken over by the German State in 1939. It lost most of its original furniture, and was subject to some alterations and damage. After the war, the building was taken over by the State of Czechoslovakia. The Tugendhat Villa Fund was established in 1993, and a scientific restoration of the building took place. The Tugendhat Villa is a detached house in a residential area of the city of Brno. The entrance to the house is from the street on the north side of the lot, which slopes down towards the south, forming a small garden. The building has three floors, one facing the street and three developing down towards the garden. The house has a flat roof, and each floor has a different plan. The uppermost floor is entered directly from street level and includes a terrace that traverses the house and forms a balcony on the garden side. From here one reaches a small entrance hall, family bedrooms and services; the master bedroom and dressing room are on the garden side. The garage and caretaker's lodging are at the west end of the house. From the hallway and from the balcony there are stairways leading down to the main floor, which has three parts. The first part is the main living area with a winter garden, reception room, music corner, study and library, sitting areas, dining room and services.

The second part has kitchen facilities, and the third part consists of the servants' area. The living area has large windows on two sides and is directly joined to the terrace, which is partly open, partly covered, and has a wide stairway leading down to garden level. The ground level has utility rooms and is used for technical purposes. The main structure of the house is made from reinforced concrete with steel frames. A structure of polished steel pillars supports the entire house. A steel skeleton also carries ceramic ceiling panels. The exterior of the house is rendered and painted white. Light-coloured travertine tiles are used in the staircases leading down to the garden and in the living hall there is ivory-coloured linoleum. The entrance is panelled with dark palisander wood. The back wall of the living area is made from beautiful onyx, the same division as in the glass wall opening towards the garden. The original furniture and some of the pieces were made specifically for this house, such as the so-called Tugendhat chair, in chromium-plated flat steel elements and upholstered in stitched leather. The living area was furnished in such a way that each piece had its specific place. The mechanical equipment designed and built for the house was also exceptional, including special structural solutions for the use of steel pillars, for processing the onyx wall that was brought from the African Atlas Mountains, and for the electrically operated large steel-frame windows. The house had central heating and an air-conditioning system with a regulated fine-spray humidifying chamber.

About the sender

Kát'uska Pipková (direct swap) sent from Brno (Czech Republic) on 12.01.2014

082 CZECH REPUBLIC - Meteora (WHS)

'Suspended in the air' (the meaning of Meteora in Greek), these monasteries represent a unique artistic achievement and are one of the most powerful examples of the architectural transformation of a site into a place of retreat, meditation and prayer. The Meteora provide an outstanding example of the types of monastic construction which illustrate a significant stage in history, that of the 14th and 15th centuries when the eremitic ideals of early Christianity were restored to a place of honour by monastic communities, both in the Western world (in Tuscany, for example) and in the Orthodox Church. Built under impossible conditions, with no practicable roads, permanent though precarious human habitations subsist to this day in the Meteora, but have become vulnerable under the impact of time. The net in which intrepid pilgrims were hoisted up vertically alongside the 373 m cliff where the Varlaam monastery dominates the valley symbolizes the fragility of a traditional way of life that is threatened with extinction. The monasteries are built on rock pinnacles of deltaic origin, known as Meteora, which rise starkly over 400 m above the Peneas valley and the small town of Kalambaka on the Thessalian plain. Chemical analysis suggests that the pinnacles were created some 60 million years ago in the Tertiary period, emerging from the cone of a river and further transformed by earthquakes. 

The Meteora are enormous residual masses of sandstone and conglomerate which appeared through fluvial erosion. Seismic activity increased the number of fault lines and fissures and hewed the shapeless masses into individual sheer rock columns. Hermits and ascetics probably began settling in this extraordinary area in the 11th century. In the late 12th century a small church called the Panaghia Doupiani or Skete was built at the foot of one of these 'heavenly columns', where monks had already taken up residence. During the fearsome time of political instability in 14th century Thessaly, monasteries were systematically built on top of the inaccessible peaks so that by the end of the 15th century there were 24 of them. They continued to flourish until the 17th century. Today, only four monasteries - Aghios Stephanos, Aghia Trias, Varlaam and Meteoron - still house religious communities. The area includes forested hills and river valley with riverine forests of Platanus orientalis and species such as the endemic Centaurea lactifolia (found near Koniskos village) and Centaurea kalambakensi. The nearest protected area is Trikala Aesthetic Forest (28 ha), created in 1979, which has been planted with Pinus halepensis and Cupressus sempervivens. The potential vegetation cover is described as supra-Mediterranean, with climax cover of Quercus andOstrya species and Fagus sylvatica beech forest above 700 m.

About the sender

Kát'uska Pipková (direct swap) sent from Brno (Czech Republic) on 21.11.2013

034 Czech Republic - Historic Centre of Telc (WHS)

Telc is a town in southern Moravia, near Jihlava in the Czech Republic. The town was founded in the 13th century as a royal water fort on the crossroads of busy merchant routes between Bohemia, Moravia and Austria. Besides the monumental 17th century Renaissance chateau with an English-style park (a rebuilding of original Gothic castles), the most significant sight is the town square, a unique complex of long urban plaza with well-conserved Renaissance and Baroque houses with high gables and arcades. The Gothic castle was built in the second half of the 14th century. At the end of the 15th century the castle fortifications were strengthened and a new gate-tower built. In the middle of the 16th century the medieval castle no longer satisfied Renaissance nobleman Zacharias of Hradec, who had the castle altered in the Renaissance style. The ground floor was vaulted anew, the facade decorated with sgraffito and the state apartments and living quarters received stucco ornamentation together with trompe l'oeil and chiaroscuro paintings in 1553. The counter-reformation brought the Jesuits to the town, who built the church of Name of Jesus in 1666-1667, according to the plans of Domenico Orsi. The column of the Virgin and the fountain in the centre of  the square date from the 18th century.

About the sender

Karolína Sejnová (direct swap) sent from Dobris (Czech Republic) on 26.08.2013

012 CZECH REPUBLIC - Kutná Hora (WHS)

Located in the centre of the Czech Republic, Kutná Hora has been one the richest and most activ cities in Bohemia behind Prague which is located around 70km West of Kutná Hora. 

Kutná Hora developed as a result of the exploitation of the silver mines. In the 14th century it became a royal city endowed with monuments that symbolized its prosperity. The Church of St Barbara, a jewel of the late Gothic period, and the Cathedral of Our Lady at Sedlec, which was restored in line with the Baroque taste of the early 18th century, were to influence the architecture of central Europe. These masterpieces today form part of a well-preserved medieval urban fabric with some particularly fine private dwellings.

The main attraction in the UNESCO-WHS is Church of St. Barbara since it's known as one of the most amazing gothic churches in Europe. The Bohemians started building this cathedral in 1388 and they finally finished it in 1905 after more than 500 years. 

About the sender

Karolína Sejnová (direct swap) sent from Dobris (Czech Republic) on 26.08.2013

010 CZECH REPUBLIC - Historic Centre of Prague

Prague is the Czech capital and the largest city in the Czech Republic. The city is located in almost the centre of the Czech Republic. Prague has been the centre of the Holy Roman Empire over centuries and it had also the first Eastern university, found in 1348. Prague has been a multicultural city with Bohemian (Czech), German and Jewish inhabitants who respected and influenced each other.

Built between the 11th and 18th centuries, the Old Town, the Lesser Town and the New Town speak of the great architectural and cultural influence enjoyed by this city since the Middle Ages. The many magnificent monuments, such as Hradcani Castle, St. Vitus Cathedral, Charles Bridge and numerous churches and palaces, built mostly in the 14th century under the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles IV.

About the stamp

The stamp shows the flower Iris (25Kc).

About the sender

Luca Sebe-Tebe (direct swap) sent from Prague (Czech Republic) on 28.08.2013