Tábor and the Hussites

Now that spring weather is upon us, we've started taking weekend day trips into the country again. With two energetic young boys, our day trips have to involve a lot of outdoor romping. Ben and Garrett enjoy a tower climb, can tolerate maybe one indoor exhibit, and are always open to hitting a pub for snacks and a drink (which, in their case, is either hot cocoa or juice). But any more of an indoor plan than that is asking for trouble. This year in Europe has not been one of whiling away afternoons at kavarnas or musing over the finer points of art from the renaissance period. At times it's felt like a mad dash from one playground to a geocache and back again ... while shoe-horning an historic site or two into the agenda.

In March we headed to South Bohemia to the medieval town of Tábor. Tábor is significant for its history and its architecture. Fortunately it has a few geocaches as well, because let's face it -- history and architecture only go so far in igniting the imagination the 6- to 8-year-old set.

To appreciate Tábor's history it's good to know a little about Jan Hus and the Hussite reformation. Hus is considered a spiritual founder of the city, although the city was established after his death.

Jan Hus profile relief, from the Bethlehem Chapel exhibit in Prague

Jan Hus was a Czech priest and a master at Charles University in the early 1400s. By the time he was in his 30s, his charismatic preaching style drew crowds up to 3,000 when he preached at the Bethlehem Chapel in Old Town, where services were in Czech rather than Latin. Hus, a follower of English philosopher and theologian John Wycliffe (an early dissident from the Roman Catholic Church and proponent of translating the Bible into common language), believed that there should be less separation between God and laity, particularly in the sacraments of confession and communion. He was also very critical of corruption and wealth in the institutional Church. In 1415, Hus was burned at the stake for heresy.

Depiction of Hus's death on the wall of Bethlehem Chapel (Prague),
where Hus preached even after his excommunication.

Hus's death rallied his followers who became known as Hussites. One faction of the Hussites followed military leader Jan Žižka south to establish a military camp on a strategic embankment. Tábor, which is named after the Biblical Mt. Tabor (purported site of Jesus's transfiguration), was thus founded and became the cradle of the Hussite movement.

Žižka leads the Hussites to Tabor, from the Bethlehem Chapel (Prague).

One of the main problems that Hussites had with the Roman Catholic Church was that laity could partake only of the "body" but not the "blood" of Christ during communion. Because of this the reformers embraced the chalice as their emblem.

Žižka's Hussite army marched and fought with the chalice on battle flags and shields.
(Excuse the fuzziness. I wanted to highlight the chalice.)

The image of the golden chalice is frequently seen adorning public buildings and private houses throughout the Czech Republic.

It was a Sunday in late March when we made our trek to Tábor. By train, not horse. Not far from the train station is František Bílek's Memorial to Jan Hus.

The sculpture shows fire lapping at Hus's feet. The pedestal reads, "The flames draw close to the truth."

Master Hus

Tábor has a Hussite Museum, but like many tourist sites it has limited hours during the off-season (November through March). So we took in the town's unique architecture, particularly the burgher houses near the town square. Pražská ulice (Prague Street) has a number of houses worth noting.

House No. 210, Flemish Renaissance

Many houses are adorned with sgraffito, a technique popular during the Renaissance period. The word "graffiti" finds its origins in "sgraffito."

A closer look at the façade and intricate gables of No. 210

Stark House dates from 1527.

Further up Pražská ulice, more interesting roof lines.

We reached Žižkovo náměstí (Žižka Square). Žižka met us there.

Žižka watches over the square.

Late Gothic Ctibor House on Žižka Square

Ctibor House is topped with a chalice.

Charming detail on roofs of burgher houses on the square.

Late Gothic-Renaissance Škoch House near Town Hall.

The 24-hour clock on Town Hall

More chalices

Church of the Transfiguration boasts a Baroque pulpit and altar.

We climbed the church's bell tower for views of the town and countryside. Unfortunately the camera battery conked out, so I didn't get pictures beyond the town's architecture. We did discover a fun playground, where we played a spirited game of hide-and-seek, and we tromped down to a cool waterfall and located a geocache.

Picture from the web -- it wasn't this sunny for us!

Visiting Tabor and learning more about Hus, Žižka, and the Hussites helped peel back one more layer of the onion that is the Czech Republic for me. It really took being here about six months or so, visiting sites in Prague and other towns, and hearing names and events from Czech history several times or more to start to put things into context and understand this place on anything more than a superficial level. I'm a long way from "getting it." That said, I'm getting there.

Parting shot ~

Sgraffito with a smile.

Architecture need not always be stuffy and formal.