Prachatice

Prachatice held the Bohemian end of the Golden Road, the medieval salt route from Passau over the Sumava, and for two centuries the salt trade made it one of the richest towns in southern Bohemia. The money went into the houses: the old town inside its walls has a dense group of Renaissance facades in sgraffito and painted decoration, with the Sitkovsky house and the old town hall carrying the most elaborate schemes - biblical scenes, allegories, hunting and heraldry across whole frontages. The town walls survive substantially with the Pisek gate. St James's church is a large late Gothic hall church. Jan Hus was schooled here as a boy. The salt trade ended when the route shifted in the seventeenth century and the town stopped growing, which is why so much of the sixteenth century is still standing. The Golden Road is now a marked walking route.

What you actually see

• Sgraffito and painted facades - scenes and allegory across whole house fronts.
• Substantial town walls - with the Pisek gate standing.
• A late Gothic hall church - St James's, in the middle of the old town.
• The Golden Road - the salt route from Passau, now a marked trail.

When to go

April to October. A day.

Honest expectations

The old town is compact - half a day covers the walking. The museum closes on Mondays. Facades are best in raking light; flat overcast flattens the sgraffito badly.

Nearby

Husinec, Hus's birthplace, is nearby; the Sumava rises west.