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Town landmark zone

The town square has witnessed continual architectural innovation over the centuries. Proof of the fact that civic houses were built spontaneously along the medieval road is found in the layout of the square, one of the longest in the Czech Republic with arcades running down two sides.

The 83 houses with brewing rights hemmed into the protective shall of the town fortifications included many buildings with cheap materials available in medieval times - wood and tufa. Following the first recorded fire in the town in 1590 the centre of town gained a unique stone appearance in the spirit of the Renaissance. A century later the square had taken on a Baroque appearance with richly adorned building façades; this work culminated in 1781 with the complete reconstruction of the entire square. This building boom was necessitated by a fire that year, the largest in the town’s history, which destroyed the majority of the civic houses. Construction work continued at the same intense tempo in the 19th century and the town landmark zone became a textbook of architecture. Many well-known styles are represented - Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Classicist, historicizing, Neo-Renaissance, Secessionist elements, and even Socialist buildings. A transit road was the cause of the devastation of the entire zone up till the year 1982, and even after challenging and successful reconstruction in 1993-1994 the town is still grappling with lingering effects today. With a length of 0.5 kilometres, the town square is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Svitavy.