Trhové Sviny - the town of markets and crafts

Trhové Sviny was originally called probably Svinice. In 1481, the town was granted the right by King Vladislav Jagiellonian to hold markets once, later twice a year and was given the nickname Trhové.

The former castle had direct control over the markets in the adjacent square and also monitored traffic on the road to Borovany, which ran close to the castle walls to the east. In 1378, Charles IV allowed the municipality of Swinoujscie to import one wagon of salt per week directly from Freistadt (České Budějovice had a monopoly on salt imports). In 1463, the privilege was confirmed by George of Poděbrady, and extended to two wagons per week on the condition that it would be sold exclusively in the town.

The annual markets, which lasted until the 1940s, attracted merchants from far and wide. In addition, the town held weekly markets (always on Wednesdays), which were attended by vendors from the surrounding area and whose tradition has been preserved to this day.

The Market Town Hall in the middle of the elongated sloping square is mentioned as early as the 16th century, but the present building dates from 1845. On the town hall's gable you can see statues of Kings George of Poděbrady and Vladislav Jagiellonian. The stone surround of the painted emblem in the gable and the Gothic cellar come from the original town hall. The hexagonal stone fountain in the middle of the square dates from 1864.

The former town houses retain their original arcades along the entire south side of the square. From the northern part of the square one can walk to the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, which was originally built in the early Gothic style and later rebuilt in the late Gothic style. A stone plaque with the town's coat of arms from 1485 dates back to this period. The dominant feature of the church is the Baroque altar with the late Gothic Madonna of Trhovosvine from 1520. In the Baroque period it was decorated with a crown, scepter and gilding. The Madonna was loaned to the National Heritage Institute for the exhibition "The Rožmberks, a family of Czech nobles and its journey through history", which took place in 2011 in the Wallenstein Riding Hall in Prague. In 2020, therefore, the locals will commemorate the 500th anniversary of the famous Madonna and this celebration will be an exceptional reminder of the history of the town and the church.

Another historical monument is the pilgrimage church of the Holy Trinity. In the last two years, the main altar has been completely restored, but now that the sculptural decoration has been added, it shines with beauty and amazes everyone who looks at it.

Not least interesting is the Buškův hamr, standing in a picturesque valley between Trhové Sviny and Lniště. It is a first-class technical monument with three water wheels, which was reconstructed and opened to the public in 1992-1995. The town of Trhové Sviny organizes social and cultural events here.