In Budějovice
Náměstí Přemysla Otakara II.
On foot 14 min · By car 9 min
The heart of Budějovice is an almost perfect square, 133 metres on each side, lined with forty-eight Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque houses. In the middle stands the Samson fountain, whose lower basin is a respectable seventeen metres across, with four stone Atlases holding up the upper bowl. And although the square is a square, an old legend says you can still lose your way here.
Arcades from the 14th century run all the way around, so you can walk the square dry-footed even in the rain, and it is the second-largest square in the Czech Republic. Samson’s Fountain is the largest fountain in the country: it holds two hundred and thirty-seven cubic metres of water, and its stone basin was carved from a single piece of stone from Besednice. And the legend? A short way from the fountain a stone with a little cross is set into the paving; according to old Budějovice locals it must not be stepped over after nine in the evening.
Practical details
- On foot 14 min · By car 9 min
- Opening hours: volně přístupné kdykoli, zdarma. Radniční věž jen při komentovaných prohlídkách — režim ověřit v infocentru
On site
The square is an almost perfect 133 × 133 metres; forty-eight houses stand around it, linked by a continuous arcade so you can walk the whole perimeter under cover. In the centre is the Samson fountain with a basin seventeen metres across; four figures of Atlases support the upper bowl. In the south-east, a short way from the fountain, a round stone with a carved cross is set in the paving — about thirty centimetres across and easy to miss. On the town hall gable stand four statues of virtues, and on the south face of the tower, besides the main clock, a small dial with a ball shows the phases of the moon. In the middle of the façade is the České Budějovice town coat of arms, surrounded by the three land arms — Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. The stucco decoration is attributed by encyclopedias to Bernard Tham.