In Budějovice
Alšova jihočeská galerie — Wortnerův dům
On foot 14 min · By car 9 min
Wortnerův dům is the exhibition hall of Alšova jihočeská galerie. You do not come for a permanent display but for what is on now, so check the programme beforehand. The building itself is worth attention: with battlements and corner turrets it looks more like a small fortress than a burgher's house.
Alšova jihočeská galerie is the fifth-largest gallery in the Czech Republic; its main seat is in the chateau riding hall at Hluboká, and after the National Gallery it has the second-strongest Gothic collection in the country. The house itself has a dark history: it arose from joining two small houses that until 1506 belonged to the Budějovice Jewish community — the community the town wiped out in the winter of 1505. It is open daily, including Mondays.
Practical details
- On foot 14 min · By car 9 min
- Opening hours: denně 10:00–18:00, prodej vstupenek končí půl hodiny před zavírací dobou
On site
The house is unmissable in the street: a high attic with battlements and turrets, like a fortress among ordinary façades. In the wall is a side window to the street — residents once watched for danger. On the ground floor you can see where the connecting passage ran between the two original houses; the entrance hall was called mázhaus and handled goods. From the mázhaus you reach a courtyard with a well.
Inside are preserved wooden beam ceilings from the Renaissance, perhaps Gothic. The beams are massive, likely oak, soaked in bull's blood for durability. Look up for stucco, small vaults and ceiling decoration in the shape of a sun or eight-petalled rose.