Historic Centre of Telč
The city was built on the original foundations following a devastating fire at the end of the 14th century. A number of the renaissance and baroque townhouses remain to this day strengthened by a protective system of ponds. The gothic castle was rebuilt in the renaissance style at the end of the 16th century.
Telč is situated at the south-west tip of Moravia, half-way between Prague and Vienna. According to legend the foundation of the city is associated with the victory of the Moravian Prince Otto II over the Bohemian King Břetislav in 1099. It was this victory that meant the building of a chapel, later to become a church, and a settlement which forms today’s Old Town. The city saw its greatest period of expansion under the rule of Zachariáš of Hradec in the 2nd half of the 16th century. Because the historical centre of the city, surrounded by fish ponds and city gates, has retained its unique shape over the centuries, in 1992 it was inscribed in the UNESCO list..
The houses in Telc, which stands on a hilltop, were originally built of wood. After a fire in the late 14th century, the town was rebuilt in stone, surrounded by walls and further strengthened by a network of artificial ponds. The town's Gothic castle was reconstructed in High Gothic style in the late 15th century.