Historical Architecture
White Tower (Czech: Bilá Věž)
Renaissance campanile in the very core of the city provides nice view, recommended for photographing (also possible after the sunset) or planning your route through the city. Originally it was constructed as a watchtower, constructed next to the Holy Ghost Cathedral. Today it is mostly a tourist attraction, often used for the advertising and the postcards. On the top of the 72 meters high tower is the second biggest bell in the Czech Republic to be seen (after Zikmund bell in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague), weighing 10 tons. In the past, eight men were needed to ring it. Opening hours: Apr-Sep: 9 AM – 12 AM, 1 PM – 5 PM, first Friday in month nocturnal sight-seeings.
Holy Ghost’s Cathedral
Built originally from bricks in Gothic-Style, the cathedral was later rebuilt in Baroque and then regothicized in 19th century. So now the exterior is original – Gothic, the interior is Neogothic with the Baroque vault. The church was promoted to a Cathedral on the occasion of settling the episcopate in 1664 by the pope Alexander VII. The towers are 39.5 meters high, the cathedral is 56 metres long. The attraction is the wonderful calcite pastofory stationed on the top of a column by Matej Rejsek, well known sculpturer, who worked for the Czech king in the 15th century. Then you could be interested in the richly ornamented tin font, which was taken here by the Hussites from a catholic monastery. The four bells of the cathedral – Dominique, Michael, Wenceslas and Clement are from the period 1480 – 1510. The Cathedral is open every day for the evening mass.
Church of Assumption of the Virgin Mary
Baroque church with adjecent former Jesuit college and chapel of St. Joseph was designed by Italian builder Carlo Lurago. You can find there the painting Glorification of St. Ignatius of Loyola by famous baroque painter, Peter Brandl. The painting as the main part of the altar of St. Ignatius is the only part of the church that survived all the fires that broke out in the city throughout the ages.
Bishop’s residence
Representative baroque building, built for the new bishop of Hradec Kralove, who was established in 1664. In the communist time when the Church was persecuted, it was turned into Gallery of Modern Art. In 1990 it became again the domicile of the bishop. It is situated in the Velke Square 35.
The timber church of St. Nicolas Located close to the confluence of the Elbe and the Orlice rivers, in the Jirasek’s Park, one of the few last memories of the traditional architecture of the middle ages, it was built in 1502-10 in the Slovak village Mala Polana. In 1935, it was moved here at the request of Josef Pilnacek, the Mayor of Hradec Kralove, as a gift to the city, dedicated to the victims of World War I. The surrounding well-maintained park creates a pleasant atmosphere for a Sunday walk. Opening hours: Apr – Sep: 6 AM – 9 PM, Oct – Mar: 6 AM – 4 PM.
Old City Hall and Mary’s Plague Pillar (Czech: Stara Radnice a Marianský sloup)
Now in baroque and classicist style after being rebuilt from late Gothic, it is a prestigious building, used by municipality for official purposes. You can see there a model of the city (in the scale 1:500) that was presented on the occasion of Millenium celebrations. In the ground floor is the cafeteria Slunecni cajovna. In the square you could notice the Plague Pillar, which was built as an expression of gratitude to the Virgin Mary in 1717. In 1716 the town was not hit by the pandemy of plague, which decimated European population.
Klicpera Theatre
The commencements of theatre in the whole region are closely connected to Jesuit college in 17th century, in the beginning of 19th century the officers of Austro-Hungarian Empire brought the German theatre, which was later driven out by the rising influence of Czech movement for national revival. One of their representatives was Vaclav Kliment Klicpera (1792-1859), playwright, author, and poet. In 1885 a new theatre was built, later named „Klicpera Teatre“ in his memory. At present, it takes part in many cultural actions, e.g. festival Theatre of European Regions.
In June, during the Open Air Program, you can see many of world’s most known plays in performance of Czech actors.
Notice: Not all of them are in Czech language!
