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6./I. Culturally Historical Wandering around Slaný– The Town´s Historical Centre

Masarykovo náměstí Square is the historical centre, and the hearth of the town of Slaný, with acreage of 1ha 35 ares, and 13 square metres. There have been hundreds of both secular and clerical festivities in the square; there have been crowds of people present at demonstrations, and the square sounded by their rejoicing in the great days of the town´s history, as well as of the nation´s history. The square remembers magnificent visits of rulers and noble people, the tumults of military bodies of all possible armies, and the delegations from distant cities. In 1425, the square was lit up by the fire from the meat shops´ pyres, where the victorious Hussites from the Tábor party burnt a large portion of the town´s defenders to death after a long-lasting siege.

There used to be a pillory in the middle of the square, together with other means of the justice at that time (brakes, cages, and wheels with chains). The ultimate punishment was carried out by sword in a place of execution, which was always built for this purpose. The last public execution was carried out on the 1st September 1656. In 1681, a Plague Column of the Holy Trinity was built in the square, which was, however, torn down and destroyed in 1920. The original round fountain from 1529 was rebuilt at the end of the 16th century. New fountain was built here in 1825. The Slaný fountain got its present appearance in 1873, thanks to the sculptor named Wurzel. In 2006, there was an extensive reconstruction. There are three crosses from basalt blocks in the square, reminding the places of the pyres, where the protreeve, the aldermen, and the town defenders were burnt to death in 1425, after the town was seized by the united Hussite armies. The statue of the first president, Tomáš Garrique Masaryk, was dedicated in the Slaný square on the 28th October 2000. It was the work of academic sculptors Miroslav Pangrác and František Radvan, and the metal founder Petr Dvořák.

We will start our story about the houses lining the Slaný square in the west part, with the corner house No. 110. In the 15th and the 16th century, the house belonged to the Slaný blazon family of Novodomský of Šimberk. There is an interesting oriel window on the house, with embossments of significant Czech personalities, such as Jan Žižka, Jan Hus, Charles IV. In the neighbouring house, No. 111, the poet and writer Svatopluk Čech lived in 1872-73, and wrote his poem named Adamité. In the area of the house No. 114, there used to be two houses in the Middle Ages, which were pulled down, and there was a building raised in their place, serving the purposes of the Regional Office. In 2000, the deteriorating object was bought out from the town, and by the end of 2002, the new owners rebuilt it into a representative accommodation, restaurant, and culturally-social facility.

We will cross the Dominik Kynský Street, and past the house No. 135 with ancient pharmacy "U Orla", we will continue to house No. 136, the Town Council building, being in place of the original two medieval houses. The front house was the only house in the square with an arcade. In the period 1873-1948, it used to be the seat of the Civic Savings Bank of Slaný. In April 1950, the object was acquired by the Town People´s Committee´s Administration. The Town Council´s back wing neighbours with the Velvary Gate (No. 137), or eventually with the Gothic tower of the original double gate, built in place of the old gate in 1460-63. The gate´s tower is 38 m high. There is an exhibition of the town´s fortification in the premises of the Velvary Gate.

Corner house No. 138 is decorated by beautiful sundial. In place of the existing house No. 1004, there used to be two houses from the Middle Ages on – No. 143 and 144. House No. 144 was a municipal house for years, with the Music School having its origins here, as well as the Winter Commercial School, the Library, and the Geographical Museum. Both houses were pulled down in 1925, and the new post office was built in their place, beginning its operations on the 15th June 1928.

The eastern part of the square has undergone the greatest construction changes. After crossing the Fričova Street, we are standing in front of the former Pošta Hotel (today the Town Council´s building). In the Middle Ages, there used to be three houses on the land plot of this house No. 160. Jiří Adam II. Bořita, count of Martinice (the nephew of Bernard Ignác Bořita of Martinice) then had a pub built here. The Geographical Museum´s building, No. 159, was built in the open space left by the houses destroyed in the Thirty Years´ War. In 1660, a Piaristic College was built here, established by Bernard Ignác Bořita, count of Martinice on the 1st July 1658. The Piaristic College with the Chapel of Engagement of Virgin Mary served the purposes of educating the youth from Slaný and its surroundings until May 1939, when the grammar school moved to the new building in today´s Smetanovo náměstí Square. The left wing of the Piaristic College was in the years 1846-1877 the first permanent stage of the Slaný theatrical amateurs. In 1940, the Geographical Museum moved to the building, followed by the Town Library in 1960 (today the V. Štech´s Library), and the house is also the seat of the Slaný Information Centre. In 1997, a new cinema was built and open in the building´s back wing.

One-storey house No. 9 has been built in a Baroque style, with preserved oriel window from the end of the 16th century. It was modified to get the present appearance at the end of the 18th century. It is decorated by Renaissance portal, oriel window, and ornaments. The oriel window, Renaissance originally, we rebuilt in Baroque (volutes under the windows), bear sculpture dated 1779. The entrance portal in cartouche, brewery privilege sign "U Černého koně" – house No. 8 was one of the three renowned coaching inns in the Slaný square. There is a preserved winch well here. In 1630, house No. 7 (abandoned by the emigrants of the Sixt of Ottersdorf family) was sold by count Jaroslav Bořita of Smečno to his regent, Zachariáš Vejda of Bezděkov. It is decorated by Baroque embossment of Immaculata (Madonna standing on the Earth, entwined by a snake, holding a lily in her hand). This was the house where the first Piarists dwelled, having been summoned up to Slaný in 1658.

Ancient Ungelt, house No. 4 – in 1377, Slaný was granted ungelt (dose of salt) from the ruler, against a loan, together with the office of "šrotéřství" (selling this salt at the town charges). The house was Late-Gothic originally, modified in Baroque, and newly restored in the first half of the 19th century. There is the original passage into the present Štechova Street; it is possible to pass through the house. Slaný Town Hall, No. 3, is located in the area of the former town hall, being dedicated to the town of Slaný on the 23rd June 1378 by Charles IV, the emperor and the king. He gave a house to the town of Slaný for the purpose of building the town hall, being the emperor´s via the right after the deceased citizen Lukáš. The emperor made the donation with an explicit order that the town shall arrange this house to serve the purposes of the town hall. The original house was one-storey high, with a high gradational gable, windows, and high prismatic tower of a square platform, as high as the present tower, and with a gallery. The tower had an onion roof with a belfry decorated by a star. On the first floor level, there was a 24-hour astronomical clock, reminding the one in Prague. In 1751, Michal Bořita, count of Martinice, had a new house built in place of the old town hall, which, however, completely burnt during the fire on the 2nd August 1795. In the years 1795-96, the town built a new town hall, equipped with tower clock with two iron dials, with two cimbaloms above them. In 1890, the town hall in Slaný went through further greater modifications, being arranged in a Renaissance style by Rudolf Štech, an architect from Slaný. The tower is 43 metres high, segmented into two storeys. The last restoring modifications to the Slaný town hall were carried out by the firm named Obnova památek V. Sedláček Hostouň in 1996 – 1997. House No. 1 had a lot of significant guests over the centuries. On the 29th and the 30th October 1619, Frederick the Winter King was a guest here. The so called Mansion House, however, soon became a Suzerain House, because after the White Hill Battle and the subsequent events, it became the property of Jaroslav Bořita, count of Martinice, first as a bail in 1623, then as the property in 1638. It remained the Suzerain House during the Clam-Martinic rule, until 1870, when it was returned to the town. House No. 1 was newly built in 1629, and rebuilt in 1687 and 1750. At present, the original passage way is beautifully restored, allowing for passing through the house, on foot and in carriage, into the neighbouring Martinic brewery yard.

The Novodomský House No. 86 is the one-but-last house on our walk around the Slaný square, named after the blazon family of Novodomský of Šimberk, the owners of the house since the first half of the 15th century. The Šimberk family tomb stone is embedded in the wall of the deanery church of St. Gothard in Slaný. The last house is No. 87, which also served the purposes of a couching inn in the period between mid-16th century and the beginning of the 17th century. The arcade, allowing for passage onto the Slaný Square, was built in this house in the 1940s.

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