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Holasovice

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Holašovice, for many an unknown village that is lost somewhere in the middle of the South Bohemian forests and ponds, for the others it is a unique reservation of historical monuments and a part of the world cultural heritage. It is located only 15 km to the west of Eeské Budijovice, near the northern border of the protected landscape area of Blanský Les (Blanský Forest), not too far from the wide forests zohich are covering the nearby hills such as Skalka, Švehlán and Vysoká. The location of Holašovice had probably caused the impression that time in this village passes more slowly. And so the ground plan of the village could survive in its medieval shape to the present, and also the single buildings which are concentrated around the spacious village green are in the same shape that was given to them by their builders in the second half of the 19th century. The heart of Holašovice was hardly touched by rebuilding and adaptations, which changed the character of many villages during the Last decades. It was preserved as a unique example of the South Bohemian country environment of the 19th century and at the same time as proof of the art of architecture and plaster art of our ancestors.

The so - called folk, or Rural Baroque, causes the unique atmosphere of Holašovice. It is a type of a rural architecture, based on using baroque, rococo and classicist building elements in the environment of a village. Although in Holašovice we will not be able to find examples of a peak presentation of buildings of this type either in the luxury and articulation of the gables or the richness of decoration, still because of its compactness and unity the village green of Holašovice presents itself as the most attractive example of the beauty of South Bohemian Rural Baroque. Holašovice deserves the acclaim and inclusion on the UNESCO's List of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

Rural Baroque and a South Bohemian village belong to each other. Nowhere else one would find together such a high amount of picturesque and sumptuously decorated gables of country homesteads such as in South Bohemia. On tens of village greens from the foothills of Šumava to the region of Tábor and Jindoichuv Hradec we can see rounded, impressively shaped facades of houses and farmsteads, which are decorated by a wide scale of vegetable, animal and ornamental motives. For its

both graceful curves and richness and at the same time differences in decorations, Rural Baroque became a unique architectonic phenomena of the South Bohemian countryside. It seems like the outlines of the buildings copy the mild and roundish shapes of the South Bohemian landscape, the gables of the houses are integrated with the outlines of the low hills and hillocks around, and also many elements of the nature appear in different styles on the gables, between windows and in the decoration of entrances and gates. And probably this, at the first glance noticeable connection with the nature, brings still the attention to Rural Baroque.

The area with the most plentiful examples of the architecture of the South Bohemian Rural Baroque is called Blata. It is a large area in the central part of South Bohemia, which spreads to the north of Eeské Budijovice. In the west it reaches the Netolice region, the east border goes over the Lužnice river to Kardašova Oeeice. Because of this large area there cannot be just a single territory. A considerable difference is given by both the different historical developments in single parts and the different quality of the agriculture land, which brings a different style and level of farming and economy. The national structure of population has also played its role, especially in the west part of the Blata area. Also the landscape of Blata is very heterogeneous. Extended lowlands, which are surrounded on the west by low and wooded slopes of the Šumava foothills, the eastern edge is then formed by wide woods of the Jemeinský forest. The Vltava river divides the Blata area in two parts. On the right riverside there is Sobislavsko - Veselská Blata, sometimes called the real Blata, on the left riverside Hlubocká Blata, or the so - called manmade Blata.

The smaller Sobislavsko - Veselská Blata is formed by spacious lowland with a great amount of ponds and pools and a sufficient amount of ground water that assures the fertility of the agriculture land. Extensive peat bogs with specific flora and fauna are characteristic for this area. The municipalities such as Zálší, Vlastiboo, Komárov, Borkovice, Mažice and Záluží, which are situated to the west of the railway track from Veselí nad Lužnicí to Sobislav, are the centres of Sobislavsko - Veselská Blata. These municipalities present the heart of the culturally and ethnographically specific area with many examples of the architecture of Rural Baroque. One can find here tens of Blata's farmhouses that not only thanks to their large layouts of the ground plans, but also the luxury of their decoration, prove the richness of this area. The fronts of individual homesteads have often more than 30 metres and connect into one architectonic unit both the dwelling house and the granary and the gate with a wicket. The original layout, which is based on the fact that the middle hall was followed towards the front of the house by a room, and in the direction of the yard by chambers and further followed by stables and cow - sheds, and on the other side of the ground there was a granary with one or more sheds and with small out - buildings, has been preserved in most of the rural buildings. The yard was enclosed by a sizeable barn, which gave the possibility to pass through it into the village backyards.


 
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