Levý Hradec
The castle Levý Hradec is a medieval castle ramparts in the field of Žalov in the Czech Republic .
geography
The Burgstall is ten kilometers northwest of the center of Prague . The fortification was on a rock above the left bank of the Vltava at the confluence of the Žalovský potok .
Levý Hradec was the original seat of the first historically documented Přemyslid prince Bořivoj I. In the 880s, the first Christian church in Bohemia was built here .
history
The early medieval castle was probably built in the middle of the 9th century in place of a Bronze Age fortification. However, it is not mentioned in written sources until the end of the 9th century. According to Christian legend, Prince Bořivoj I had the first church in Bohemia built here after his return from Moravia . He consecrated it to St. Clement of Rome , a saint popular in Moravia, and installed the priest Kaich here , whom he had brought with him from there. Levý Hradec was the original seat of the early Přemyslid rulers. At the end of the 9th century, Bořivoj moved its seat to Prague Castle . Prague, Budeč and Levý Hradec remained the three most important centers in Central Bohemia. The castle is reported for a second time on February 19, 982. Although the place had lost its political importance, it was still significant enough as the "cradle of Christianity in Bohemia" to carry out the election of the Slavnikid Adalbert of Prague as Prague bishop .
The buildings were only abandoned at the end of the 11th century. After this point in time there are no documents or evidence of modifications or additions. In the village itself, royal administrators were still employed in the 13th century, as documented in documents from 1221 and 1233. In 1233 the community became the property of the St. George's Monastery in Prague Castle .
The castle has been a national cultural monument since 1956 .
archeology
As early as 1853–1855, Václav Krolmus carried out the first excavations in the area. They were continued by Čeněk Rýzner at the end of the 19th century . However, it was not until the 1930s to the 1950s that Ivan Borkovský , who made the most important discoveries, dug intensively .
Accordingly, the total area was 6.4 hectares and consisted of two parts, the acropolis and the fortified outer bailey . The acropolis with an extent of about 3.6 hectares was located on the eastern, better protected, steeply sloping side, and was protected with a palisade made of clay and wood, in front of which there was a stone wall. The fortification was built in two phases with some improvements made later. Log houses with wooden floors were discovered on the Acropolis . The outer bailey was also fortified and renewed several times. Multi-room houses with farm buildings and walls made of straw were found here.
Between 1939 and 1941, the original floor plans of the church were examined under the floor of the Church of St. Climent. It was therefore a rotunda with an arched nave. The age of the preserved building material is now estimated to be younger than the end of the 9th century and it is assumed that the original church was made of wood and that the stone structure was built later. This is also confirmed by the fact that, according to the latest research, burials did not begin in the vicinity of the church until after the 11th century.
literature
- Ivan Borkovský: Levý Hradec. Nejstarší sídlo Přemyslovců (= Památniky naší minulosti. Vol. 2, ZDB -ID 417763-0 ). Nakladatelstvi Československé Akademie věd, Prague 1965.
- Jiří Sláma: Střední Čechy v raném středověku. Volume 3: Archeologie o počátcích přemyslovského státu (= Praehistorica. Vol. 14, ISSN 0231-5432 ). Univerzita Karlova, Prague 1988.
- Petr Sommer: The cornerstone of the Levý Hradec round church. In: Jana Kubková, Jan Klápště, Martin Ježek, Petr Meduna et al. (Ed.): Život v archeologii středověku. (Sbornik přispĕvků věnovaný Miroslavu Richterovu a Zdenku Smetankovi). = Life in archeology in the Middle Ages. (Festschrift for Miroslav Richter, Zdeněk Smetánka). = Life in the archeology of the middle ages. Peres, Praha 1997, ISBN 80-902465-0-8 , pp. 586-595.
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 10 ′ 9 ″ N , 14 ° 22 ′ 25 ″ E