VI. Karlovo Square | mukolin.cz

Today we will stop in the oldest town square. The most important building here is the Town Hall. Kolín Town Hall consists of two differently old houses. The older house, originally called Kolerovský house, has been used as a town hall since the end of 15th century. The exact image of the town hall during the following centuries is not known, however, the state of the building was not very satisfactory because in 1886 there was the competition for a complete reconstruction. Jan Vejrych was the author of the winning proposal. The reconstruction was finished in 1889. Between the windows on the third floor we can see five frescos with the scenes from the town history by Adolf Liebscher. The same author also painted Czech kings Přemysl Otakar II. and Jiří from Poděbrady. The paintings are located on the tower gable. Above them there are two statues, allegoric portrayal of Strength and Wisdom by Josef Mauder.

The other part of the town hall (situated one floor lower) was used as the barracks till 1864 when the regiment moved to Hradec Králové. The abandoned areas were used as a seat of a craft school, a warehouse, and occasionally theatre performances took place there. The need to enlarge the area of the town hall led to using the former barracks as a new town hall area. Jan Vejrych´s proposal was again the best and therefore the front of both houses creates a united complex. Also this facade was richly decorated and fitted with two statues. The statue of Justice was created by Ludvík Wurzel, the knight in armour on the gable is by Vilím Amort.

The dominant feature of the square is the Mariana Column raised in 1682 in memory of plague epidemics which hit the city two years before. The Column with Panna Marie Immaculata on the top was (after the end of the seven-year war) completed with four saintsʼ statues – the patrons of the town – St. Gothard, St. Florián, St. Jan and St. Pavel. A balustrade was added at the end of 19th century. Near the Column we can find the originally baroque fountain which was reconstructed to today´s look in 1870. 

The square and the adjacent alleys offer a lot of interesting buildings for sightseeing. Let´s talk about them next time.