Benešov

The Art Nouveau house No. 74 was built in 1904-5 according to the project of Marcel Dusil by the District Credit Union in Benešov. In 1992, an exposition dedicated to the history of the town and its surroundings, artistic monuments of the region and artists who worked here was opened to the public. Ethnography is an interesting feature. It presents mainly folk clothing and textiles, furniture, underpaintings on glass and folk sculpture.

The District Museum was already operating on the ground floor in the years 1950 - 1962 and returned in 1992, when it opened an exhibition on the history of Benešov and its surroundings on the first floor. In 2002, it added an exhibition on the second floor dedicated to the history of the Benesov military garrison.

The baroque church completed in 1715 has a ground plan in the shape of a Greek cross. It was designed by the famous Italian architect Giovanni Batista Alliprandi. The church is connected to the Piarist Campus, which has a central inner yard with a sundial and water well. The original campus consisted of classrooms, a large library, a dining room and rooms to accommodate the students. The Piarists, famous for spreading science and culture, brought the secondary education to Benešov from Italy.

The original early-gothic temple from the 13th century is located in the place where once used to be the oldest settlement of Benešov. At the same time it is the oldest preserved building in Benešov. After the fires in 1420 and 1648 it was refurbished in the style of late gothic and later into baroque style. The statues of Matyas Bernard Braun and even the wall paintings by Ignác Viktorin Raab have been preserved there. The separate Upper Belfry Tower is situated in front of the church entrance. It includes several bells from the 15th and 16th century. The tower got its current appearance, including the clock, after the repairs in 1828.

The current district court building used to be the town hall. It serves as the Court of Justice from the second part of 19th century when the town hall was moved to another building on the square. It was first mentioned in the year 1599. After 1820 the building with a tower was completed. At the end of the 19th century another floor was added and the facade was rearranged in a Neo-Renaissance style.

The first burgher brewery was built in Benešov in 1872. In 1897, it was bought by František Ferdinand d ́Estea and to this day brews beer according to traditional recipes. The brewery is one of the handmade and typically Czech breweries, where the quality of the beer is constantly monitored by the most skilled brewers. They pay a lot of care and attention to the golden beverage. Eighteen different types of bottom-fermented beers are produced under their hands. From the classic Ten and the special semi-dark beer Seven Bullets or the unique gluten-free beer to the special Nice Number. The brewery includes a unique malt house, which not only produces malt for the needs of the Benešov brewery, but also supplies other breweries throughout the Czech Republic and abroad. On average, the Ferdinand brewery produces 28,000 hectolitres of beer per year.

The Neo-Renaissance building of grammar school was built in 1907, designed by Karel Donda and paid by the Benešov authority. The school followed the tradition of the Benešov Piarist Campus. The school chapel, currently the Assembly Hall, was finished in 1912.

The house was built in a dignified traditionalist style in 1929. The author of the project is the Czech architect and student of professor Kotěra, born in Benešov, Otakar Novotný. The house used to function as a seat of the State Bank of Czechoslovakia after the Second Wold War.

As the chronicle written by the so called Beneš Minorita states, the Benešov Minorite Convent was established in 1247 by a provost of the Old Boleslav canonry Tobiáš of Benešov. Tobiáš was supposed to give the new community the Benešovicové family seat that was located on a promontory, nowadays known as Karlov, above the present day town. Only the remains of the pentagonal presbytery with two gothic windows were preserved. 

The cemetery is situated nearby the common town cemeteries. People were buried there until The Second World War. It also includes the grave of 13 French prisoners from a railway transport in 1945. A former Jewish chapel is the only historical monument, which documents the life of the Jewish community in the town area. Nowadays it is used as a memorial. In 1955 the permanent exposition was established in remembrance of the Jewish citizens, who fell, were tortured and executed during The Second World War.

The history of the railway station building is well connected with the construction of the railroad from České Budějovice to Prague. The southern part of the station was built in 1871 in Neo-Renaissance style. The northern part with a waiting hall is an extension from 1895. During the construction of the northern part, the Imperial lounge was placed in the centre. It was used as a luxurious waiting hall for Franz Ferdinand d’Este.

In 1894 the local authority decided to build a district hospital. It was to the occasion of the wedding of Crown Prince Rudolph and Princess Stephanie. The hospital was named after them. The first hospital building in Neo-Renaissance style was designed by Marcel Dusil, which was completed in 1880.

The gymnasium was built in Neo-Renaissance Style in 1903, according to the project by Benešov Sokol Community and mason master Jaroslav Škoula. It was ceremonially opened in September 1904. The front facade is decorated by sgraffito and medallions of the Sokol Community founders Miroslav Tyrš and Jindřich Fügner. The ceremonial character of the building shows an important position of the Sokol Community in the country at the turn of the centuries.