Czech Republic Guide
South Bohemia
Prachatice
The slopes of Libín (1096m) merge into the Otava and Vltava plain by the amiable little market town of PRACHATICE (Prachatitz), dubbed by the tourist authorities as the "Gateway to the Šumava". Most people do indeed come here en route to the Šumava, but it's a beautiful medieval town in its own right, as well as being a useful base for visiting Husinec, birthplace of Jan Hus. Founded in 1325, Prachatice flourished in the following century, when it controlled the all-important salt trade route into Bohemia. A fire in 1507 is responsible for the uniformly sixteenth-century appearance of the town and its famous collection of sgraffito facades.