Hillfort in Doudleby
Today, the site of the former hillfort concentrates the most significant preserved monuments of Doudleby.
The basin of the Malše and upper Vltava rivers became a central area of Slavic settlement by the Doudlebi tribe around the year 800. From the turn of the 8th and 9th centuries to the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries, the tribal center was a hillfort at nearby Branišovice above the Malše River. The hillfort in Doudleby was established later, during the Přemyslid colonization of the Doudleby region in the 10th century. The first written mention of the Doudleby hillfort appears in Cosmas’s Chronicle of Bohemia from the early 12th century, in connection with the report of the death of Duke Slavník in 981. According to archaeological research, the hillfort was a wooden structure, measuring about 60 x 200 meters. It stood on a trapezoidal hill in the area of the present-day church, rectory, part of the cemetery, and the parish land.
Historical sources clearly show that from the 10th century until the founding of České Budějovice in 1265, Doudleby was the administrative center of southern Bohemia, where a state official resided. After České Budějovice was founded as a new stronghold of royal power, the importance of Doudleby quickly declined.
Today, the most significant preserved monuments are concentrated on the site of the former hillfort. Chief among them is the parish church of St. Vincent, which is mentioned as early as the 1140s. In front of the church, visitors can admire a sculpture group of the Pietà from 1756, and behind the church stands the Baroque chapel of St. Barbara. Nearby is the rectory, which includes elements of the former fortress of the knights of Doudleby.
An interesting and very important structure for the village and its inhabitants is the Čapek Bridge, which connects the two parts of the village on either bank of the Malše. The bridge was built between 1928 and 1929 to replace the original wooden footbridge, which was often damaged by floods or ice flows during spring thaw. Interestingly, the bridge was funded by local citizens through a "bridge association" founded in 1905. Since the founder and chairman of this association was František Miroslav Čapek, the bridge still bears his name today.
