Tábor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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- This is an article on the city of Tábor in the Czech Republic. For other uses see: Tabor (disambiguation)
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| Region (kraj) | South Bohemian (Jihočeský) |
| Population | 36,182 (2004) |
| Area | 62.2 km² |
| Coordinates | 49°25′ N 14°39′ E |
| Elevation | 384-476 m AMSL |
| Founded | 1420 |
| Website | old.tabor.cz |
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Tábor is a city of the Czech Republic, in the South Bohemian Region. It is named after Mount Tabor, which is believed by many to be the place of the Transfiguration of Christ; the name however became popular and nowadays translates to "camp" or "encampment" in the Czech language[1].
The town was founded in the spring of 1420 by Petr Hromádka of Jistebnice and Jan Bydlínský of Bydlín from the most radical wing of the Hussites, who soon became known as the Taborites. The town is iconic for the years in which it flourished as an egalitarian peasant commune. This spirit is celebrated in Smetana's "Song of Freedom", made famous in the English-speaking world by Paul Robeson's recording in Czech and English.
The historical part of the town is situated on the summit of an isolated hill separated from the surrounding country by the Lužnice river and by an extensive pond, to which the Hussites gave the biblical name of Jordan. This pond, founded 1492, is the oldest dam of its kind in Central Europe. The historical importance of the city of Tábor only ceased when it was captured by King George of Poděbrady in 1452.
Though a large part of the ancient fortifications has been demolished, Tábor (or Hradiště Hory Tábor, the castle of the Tábor Hill, as it was called in the Hussite period) has still preserved many memorials of its past fame. In the centre of the city is the Žižka Square. Only very narrow streets lead to it, to render the approach to it more difficult in time of war. First-time visitors may not even suspect that there is an ingenious labyrinth of tunnels under the houses and streets here. The townspeople dug cellars under their houses and these were subsequently interconnected; an approximately 1km long section of the tunnel system is open to the public.
In the centre of the square is the statue of Jan Žižka, the greatest of the Hussite leaders. Here also is the Dean Church of Lord's Conversion on Mount Tabor, built in 1516 in the style of the Bohemian Renaissance, and the town hall, in connection with which a museum has been founded, which contains interesting memorials of the Hussite period, such as farm-carts which doubled as battle wagons. Major parts of the ancient fortifications and the ancient Kotnov tower and gate of Bechyně near the tower still exist.
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[edit] The Districts of Tábor
Čekanice, Čelkovice, Hlinice, Horky, Klokoty, Měšice, Náchod, Smyslov, Stoklasná Lhota, Větrovy, Všechov, Zahrádka, Záluží, Zárybničná Lhota.
[edit] Resources
- Augusta, Pavel / Klínková, Hana: TÁBOR , ISBN 80-86098-18-4 (Tabor 2001).
- Berwid-Buquoy, Christiane: TÁBOR-MĚŠICE, ISBN 3-924933-07-3 (BI-HI Berlin 2005).
 View of Tábor from north, end of 19th century, with well visible city fortification, Ignác Šechtl |
 Square of Jan Žižka with city hall and church, 1895, Ignác Šechtl |
 Kotnov tower with Sokol parrade, 1902, Šechtl and Voseček |
 Old Town, Šechtl and Voseček |
 School of Agriculture, approx. 1935, Josef Jindřich Šechtl |
[edit] References
- ^ Profous, Antonín (1957). Místní jména v Čechách: Jejich vznik, původní význam a změny; part 4, S-Ž. Prague, Czechoslovakia: Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.
