Fountain at Velké náměstí: A Renaissance Civic Fountain in Prachatice
Site at a Glance
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Czechia
- Primary era
- Modern
- Eras represented
- Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- Austria-Hungary, Habsburg, Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom of Bohemia
- Site type
- Civic
- Remains
- Fountain
On this page12 sections
History
The Fountain at Velké náměstí is a stone fountain in Prachatice, Czechia, whose Renaissance construction began in 1581 and continued into 1583. The Renaissance was a European cultural and artistic movement that flourished from the later Middle Ages into the early modern period. The town council considered water essential to the community’s safety, including protection from fire.
Renaissance construction
A written record from 1563 describes an earlier fountain that leaked. The council sought pitch from Volf Beer z Vejdu, governor of the Helfenburk estate, to seal it, but repairs did not solve the problem. The town therefore planned a replacement.
On 10 March 1581, the council asked local stonecutter Ondřej Vlach to build a new fountain. Vlach brought a clay model he had already made. In his will of 12 January 1583, he instructed his apprentice Jakub to finish the water reservoir. Vlach had died by 4 March. By then, the statue of Justice, most of the basin, and parts of the pedestal and water supply had probably been completed. On 26 April, the council contracted stonecutter Jan Pilštnycer of Český Krumlov to carve stonework based on Vlach’s model, with Jakub assisting. Pilštnycer received his final payment on 10 June 1583.
Fire, dismantling, and replacements
The Renaissance fountain remained in its original form until a town fire in 1832. The following year, regional governor Jos. Ed. Mašek and regional engineer Kottnaur sent builders to break it up. Some fragments, including the inscribed lower pedestal, were reused in a smaller fountain at the junction of present-day Křišťanova, Poštovní, and Husova streets. The statue of Justice was moved to Gallows Hill. After piped water was introduced, the smaller fountain was dismantled and its fragments placed in the municipal enclosure. An 1883 description located remains in Church Lane and behind the chapel of St John of Nepomuk. The statue went to the Municipal Museum in 1904.
After a tender in 1844, S. Eisner of Volyně built a replacement on the square in 1852–53. A new fountain followed in 1903. A proposal after the First World War to make it a memorial to the dead was not carried out. The statue of Justice returned from the museum in 1925; its lost scales had to be remade.
Modern changes
The fountain was designated a Czech cultural monument on 3 May 1958. During reconstruction of Velké náměstí in 2000, workers made a new basin and found the original Renaissance water pipe. A strong gust damaged the statue in winter 2004. After repairs, a cast took its place at the fountain, while the original was displayed on the ground floor of the Old Town Hall. When the statue was blown down again in 2007, another cast was made.
Remains
The stone fountain stands on Velké náměstí, with a polygonal basin at the centre of its stepped setting. Its central structure combines a lower pedestal with water spouts and a separate upper element bearing carved heraldic reliefs.
Present arrangement
Basin and setting
The basin is made of light-coloured granite and has edges that curve in a lively, undulating pattern. Its form reproduces that of the 1903 basin. The steps leading to the fountain vary in number to accommodate the slope of the square.
Pedestal and reliefs
The central pedestal has three tiers. Its lower, square section carries four metal water spouts and is a later addition, probably from the early twentieth century. The original lower pedestal had four lion-head outlets directing water toward the four sides. Its inscription dedicated the fountain to Prachatice and to public cleanliness and convenience, called it a civic treasure, and wished that its waters would bring joy to the town. It also named Vlach as master and gave the year 1582.
The separate upper element bears four reliefs. The north face shows the Bohemian coat of arms, the south the arms of Prachatice, and the east and west faces roses associated with the House of Rosenberg. Carved details include a five-petalled rose and a divided shield with a rose and stripes, supported by two heraldic bears. Beneath the western rose is the inscription "ANO DNI 1583"; the opposite face bears "IAN MART. KVNDIK." Vlach’s clay model had proposed a tall central column with four lion-mouth outlets and heraldic arms, crowned by Justice holding a sword and scales. The original pipe connected the fountain to the municipal water system supplied from the Feferské ponds.
Statue of Justice
The statue faces north across the square, holding a sword in her right hand and scales in her left. Vlach carved the original in 1582 from Prachatice diorite, a hard, coarse-grained igneous rock. A cast now stands on the fountain, while the original is displayed on the ground floor of the Old Town Hall.
Earlier designs
The 1852–53 replacement
The nineteenth-century replacement had a square plan, a simple pedestal, and a stone cross at the top. It was built in the late Classicist style, a restrained form of neoclassical architecture.
The 1903 fountain
The fountain built in 1903 had a concrete basin in Neo-Baroque forms, reviving features associated with Baroque design. A central monument rose from the basin and carried a bust of Joseph II, the Habsburg ruler and Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790.
