Města a obce online - Valašské Klobouky

The town's guide

The town's historical zone
 

A guided tour of the town's historical zone may start in the square. Right in the centre there is the building of the old townhall and not so far in the direction of the church there is a fountain from the twenties of the 19^th century.

 Once upon a time, according to the tale, there used to be a small fountain that always refreshed gentlefolks from the Brumov castle. For its better signification, allegedly, they left a hat on the tallest tree nearby. A settling, established at the place, got the name after that (says the tale).

The old town hall has a renaissance core and already in the16th century the town hall tower was decorated with the striking clock  The tower acquired today's appearance thanks to both the later-baroque rebuilding and the reconstruction in 1943. And because the old town hall is the seat of the town's museum, there is an opportunity to learn something more about the town's history. Visitors can see the exposition called Primeval Ages of South Wallachia, documenting the oldest settlement of our area. In the majestic hall of the old town hall for which an ample continual exposition of the history of South Wallachia and Valašské Klobouky is being prepared, now various exhibitions and concerts take place.

Before we go further, we may notice a renaissance pillory in the park in front of the museum. It is one of the oldest preserved pillories in our country. The most attractive sight appealing to the most of visitors of the Klobouky's museum is installed in the second building of the museum, in so called Red House. In the 19^th century interiors there is presented the most famous Klobouky's craft ever – the production of woolen cloth together with two other crafts that are the production of linen and dyeing. A visitor can see not only period equipment of a living room or a black kitchen, but also he  familiarizes himself with the processes of production of the mentioned crafts, and, perhaps, he will see weaving at a woolen loom. Making of woolen cloth is inseparable from the house, for it was built by the brothers Dobiáš and Benedikt Tomaštík's, the masters of the craft. A small peculiar trough that juts out of the wall straight into the street and the red colour of the facade were probably the cause of talk. It is said that blood of executed people ran out of the trough. However, still many people in Klobouky call the house “the House of an Executor”. But it is really only talk, for Klobouky lost their capital punishment law in 1754 for Maria Theresia's patent., 27 years before  building the house, then. Virtuous citizens, who built the most imposing housing in Klobouky in that time, would not talk to an executor,  a person without virtue, let alone inviting him to their homes. And what about the small trough and blood of executed people? The executions always took place  on public ground, so as the power of justice was effectively demonstrated. The mentioned small trough led from the kitchen and emptied into the street and was used to pouring out wastewater. If a housewife jugulated a pullet, then blood of an executed might have run out of the small trough, actually, a pullet's blood.

On the way from the old town hall to the Red House we pass by the baroque Marian Column from 1761 and the building of today's municipal authorities. Hubert Gessner (1871-1943), the native of Klobouky, is the author of that house's architectonic plans and of several other houses in the square and its neighbourhood. Gessner's talent had a unique opportunity to show itself, because almost half of the town tragically burnt at huge fire in 1896. 

Apart from the mentioned house of today's municipal authorities, so called Brattman's villa located next to the church is also Gessner's unique work. Later this famous architect became renowned as one of those who created architectonic appearance of Wienna in the  first half of the 20^th century.

 Some more steps further from the Red House in the direction of Brumov we can find a few superior folklore documents from the end of the 18^th and beginning of the 19^th century. Wooden houses of former suburb of Klobouky shape the idea of living in the town. After the guided tour through the central town building (the former town hall) and the wealthy middle class house, we learn a little about the life of the poorest then.

Walking along Soukenická street that is parallel to the square we reach the secondary school building. From here the church comes into sight. The parish church of the Raise of the Holy Rood has got a gothic staple. Mainly the stout body of the tower from the second half of the 16^th century gives evidence of renaissance modifications. Today's appearance has been established during baroque reconstruction mainly. 

All the mentioned buildings are protected cultural relics, Valašské Klobouky has got much more of such relics, though. As we return from the historical zone to the square, we remind at least the house in the north-west of the square with the number of description 105 that was built in the twenties of the 18^th century.