Wall of Češov
The Wall of Češov is a cultural heritage near the village of Češov in the Jičín District, approximately 90 kilometres north-east of Prague. It is the largest site of its kind in the Czech Republic. Probably a Celtic oppidum built in the 1st century BC, it covers an area of 35 hectares. The wall is a maximum of 12 metres high and 55 metres wide. It is estimated that the material used for building the wall could fill 15,000 railway carriages.
History of the wall
Historians have been disputing the origin of the wall for decades. Nowadays the most common theory is that the wall protected a Celtic oppidum. It was built in the Iron Age, in the 1st century BC. A lot of Iron Age pottery has been found in the locality. In the 6th century AD the wall was used by Slavs. At the time of the Hussite Revolution General Jan Žižka used the wall as a fortress, as did the Swedes, who built a newer part of the wall during the Thirty Years' War. In the Austro-Prussian War the wall served as a refuge for local civilians.
References
- An article on the website of Češov - Czech language
Coordinates: 50°19′56.85″N 15°20′58.28″E / 50.3324583°N 15.3495222°E