About the town

History – famous and adventurous

Bohemian Kings founded the castle and town Písek in the mid 13th century on the banks of river Otava. Thanks to gold mining and lively trade the town rapidly developed and enjoyed the favour of rulers, such as Přemysl Otakar I, Charles IV and Wenceslav IV, who were frequent guests of the town. As of the 14th century it was the centre of a far-reaching region, called the Lands of Pracheň (region, covering at its height a large part of South Bohemia, west of Vltava River). In the first half of the 15th century the town played an important role for the defenders of the chalice (a branch of the Hussite movement). The beginning of Thirty Years’ War brought a catastrophe upon the town Písek. It was besieged three times and as many times conquered, for the last time on September 30th, 1620, when it was completely destroyed by the imperial army and the majority of its inhabitants were killed. The sight of the town started to change in the 19th century — it outgrew its walls, suburbs developed to wholestreets of tenement houses, the Czech language conquered the town hall, institutions and societies of culture arose and Písek was named the town of schools and students and the violinists’ Mecca. As a town, surrounded by forests, it became a fashionable holiday resort and a favourite target for tourists. The old town centre of Písek was declared a historic site. It´s dominant and the pride of the town is the oldest stone bridge in Bohemia, built during the second half of the 13th century, which makes it older than Prague’s more famous Charles Bridge.

Contemporary – the modern town of culture and education

Now Písek has around 30.000 inhabitans. Sometimes it is called „the university town“. Comparing to the larger cities in Czech republic there are many different kinds of educational institutions. Písek also has a longtime and traditionally rich cultural history, as it is connected with long row of famous Czech poets, composers, filmmakers and painters (for example painter Mikoláš Aleš, poet Fráňa Šrámek or director Václav Krška). No wonder, the environment of the historical center of the town, the river and the nature around is highly inspirative, mysterious and visually attractive. Sometimes Písek is also called „The Pearl on the Otava River“.

Advantages of Písek

Písek is so called entrance to the highly attractive region of South Bohemia, the most visited region in the Czech Republic. It is a region full of beautiful lakes, picturesque and historical towns and cities, many attractive castles and architectural highlights and last, but not least, the remarkable and mysterious Šumava Mountains. It is also not far from Austria and it´s capital Wien or another famous cities Linz or Salzburg. Písek provides an excellent environment for students to focus on their fi lmmaking studies without the inconveniences of a larger city. There are many cheap but interesting restaurants, coffee houses and bars, sport and culture facilities. The cultural tradition still lives in the town. There are theatres, cinemas, the concert hall, music clubs, municipal library, important regional museum, the multifunctional space of the Old Malt House, which provides space for exhibitions and interactive performances. It is the town of film festivals also. There are two of them, The International Film Festival of Art Movies „River Film Fest“, held in August and International Student Film Festival in October, which traditionally holds our Film Academy. Though not large, Písek offers wide range of inspiring cultural events. The cost of living, particularly accommodation, is cheap and plentiful. More information about Písek and surroundings you can find here. We highly recommend you their Photogallery. It offers nice visual introduction to the beauty and atmosphere of the region of Písek and the whole region of South Bohemia. The representative virtual guide photogallery of the town of Písek you can find here Your next stop, if you wish to see more beautiful pictures of the town is deffinitely here

 

Region of South Bohemia

About the region

Although the whole Czech Republic is interesting land full of nature beauties of very diverse character, the South Bohemia has the reputation of the most attractive region. At least it is extremely popular destination where most of tourists are heading right after the visit of Prague. Maybe this could be, because unbelievable number of historical sightseeings like gothic and renaissance castles, monasteries, churches and all the types of historical buildings of the priceless value are concentrated on not large space. All those architectonical jewels are set to the very atmospheric country of forests, rivers, ponds (South Bohemia is „lake district“ of the Czech Republic, it has the highest percentual water area rake-off in the republic) and last, but not least, one of the most popular Czech mountains, Šumava. The South Bohemia is also the region with the finest enviromental condition and the freshest air in Czech Republic.

Attractions

Cities and Towns

It takes only 50 km from Písek to the capital of the South Bohemia region, České Budějovice. Other recommended towns with interesting historical architecture are Tábor, Jindřichův Hradec, Slavonice or the spa town Třeboň. In the region there are two destination in UNESCO, the town of Český Krumlov and the Holašovice village with the unique „peasant baroque“ architecture.

Castles and chateaus

Very interesting are the castles or chateaus of Český Krumlov, Hluboká (the most visited in the region), Jindřichův Hradec, Rožmberk, Landštejn.

More informations you will find on website