ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA	CZECH REPUBLIC
Vysočina	Highlands (Jihlava) region
Okres: Jihlava

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The origins of Telč go back to a settlement and a stronghold castle built here in the 13th/14th century. Following a fire in 1386, the wooden houses were replaced by stone buildings. The 16th century was a flourishing period for Telč and both the castle and most of the town’s houses were reconstructed in Renaissance style. The Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) caused a stagnation in the urban development but the arrival of the Jesuits in the 17th century introduced the Baroque style into the architecture of the town. The industrial revolution of the 19th century only caused a moedrate economic growth. The old town centre of Telč is exceptionally well preserved and was entered into the list of World Cultural Heritage Sites by the UNESCO in 1992 (see also list of other UNESCO heritage sites).

The castle of Telč [centre background] dates mainly from the 16th century (1553–1556 and 1566–1580) when the Renaissance castle replaced the old Gothic stronghold of the 13th century. Architectural treasures of the castle are rare Renaissance sgraffiti in the Small Banquet Hall and the Treasury and the Renaissance cassette ceiling in the Golden Hall. It is said the the old legend of the White Lady (Berta or Perchta von Rosenberg) has inspired the Austrian writer Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872) to his play ‘Die Ahnfrau’ (‘The Ancestress’) while he was working in the library of the castle of Velké Losiny.

The Gothic church of St. James the Greater [background left: the middle of the three spires] dates from the end of the 14th century and was remodelled in the mid-15th century.

The Baroque Jesuit church of the Name of Jesus [background left: the outer two spires] was built 1666–1667 and belonged to the Jesuit college. The college was used as a school after the closure of the Jesuit monastery by Emperor Joseph II in 1773, and in 1854 became the first Czech-language grammar school in Moravia.

The Baroque Marian Column [left] on the market square was created 1718–1720 and is also called ‘Column of Clouds’.