Hradec Kralove

Hradec Kralove was a fortress town until the ramparts were demolished from 1884, and what happened next is why architects come here: the town commissioned Jan Kotera and then his pupil Josef Gocar to plan the new city, and between about 1905 and 1939 they got to design not just buildings but the street layout, the blocks and the relationships between them. Kotera's museum of 1912 is a landmark of early Czech modernism; Gocar's school complex, the Ambrose church, the Grand Hotel and the boulevard of Ulrichovo namesti are a coherent interwar city, and Hradec has been called the Salon of the Republic for it. The old town on the hill above keeps its Gothic cathedral of the Holy Spirit and the White Tower of 1589, climbable. The confluence of the Elbe and the Orlice runs below with embankments and bridges by the same designers.

What you actually see

• A city designed as a whole - Kotera and Gocar planning layout as well as buildings.
• Kotera's museum of 1912 - a landmark of early Czech modernism.
• Gocar's interwar quarter - schools, church, hotel and boulevard as one scheme.
• The old town above - the Gothic cathedral and the climbable White Tower of 1589.

When to go

April to October. A day.

Honest expectations

The interest is urbanism, which takes some reading - a guide or a map of the buildings helps a great deal. Interiors are mostly not open. Museums close on Mondays.

Nearby

Pardubice is south; Hradek u Nechanic and Karlova Koruna are west.