Pelhřimov

Pelhřimov is located approximately half-way between Prague and Brno. It is known as “the Gateway to the Highlands“ because of its location in the westernmost tip of the Czech-Moravian Highlands. The altitude above sea level at the foot of the tower of the Church of St. Bartholomew is 498.63 metres and at the railway station it is 509.7 metres. The earliest settlement, in the first half of the 13th century, was most probably near St Vitus church and in Hrnčiřská street. In 1289 it was raided by Vítek of Hluboká. In 1290 king Wenceslas II granted bishop Tobias of Bechyně a privilege to renew the town and to fortify it with ramparts. Everything seems to indicate that the town was the result of colonization, chiefly by German colonists....