Square in changes

The New Town-Hall, no.35

Today the town hall is situated on Mirove square no.35. Since early 16^th century there stood the most fashionable house in a town called “At Three Linden” . In the 19^th century there was an inn. According the unofficial records the young duke Clemens Metternich spent the romantic night with his love, the duchess Vilemina Zahanska, in 1813. One month earlier the Austrian king Franz I. spent a night here too. In 1869 the town Louny bought this house and pulled it down to have a new town hall built. In 1888 the new neo-renaissance building was open and since then it is used for the local authorities. The house was designed by the Czech architect Saturnin Heller and its facade is decorated by many stunning statues and sgraffiti.

The Old Town-Hall, no.1

In 1398 Louny got the rights to build the town-hall for the local administration and authorities from the Czech king Wenceslas IV. The city-dwellers bought the house from Mr. Wenceslas von Dirna for 108 dozens of Guldens and had it rebuilt. In 1399 it was ready to be used for the local parliament meetings and as the representative house of Louny authorities. It was one of the most beautiful houses in a town with a clock-tower. In the 16^th century it was replaced by the new late gothic building, which was used for almost 300 years. After the fire of the town (early 19^th century) it was replaced by the new and modern classicism house which was in use till 1850, and then it became the residence of the district authorities and law court. Since 2003 there is the municipality library.

Daliborka, semi-detached house

It is the renaissance semi-detached house, which is one of the most valuable historical houses in Louny today. Inside there is an extraordinary hall with the renaissance wooden ceiling, which was built after the great fire in 1517. There are also several levels of original gothic basements with lovely arches. Today it is the residence of the Regional Archive and you can find there many old graduals, written records and privileges. The most valuable one is the illuminated gradual dated to the 14^th century.

The Savings Bank – “Sporitelna” building

On this place there were originally 3 burgher houses with an arcade which were in 1926 replaced by the modern building (built in functionalism) that became the residence of the Savings Bank in Louny. The bank house was designed by the famous Czech architect Frantisek Libra. The façade is decorated by travertine stone tiles and two huge statues from Otakar Švec (a famous Czech artist, the author of the huge Stalin composition in Prague). The interior is decorated by the Art-Nouveau fountain.

Statue of Mr. Johannes Hus

This monument was placed on the square in 1925, in the year of 510^th anniversary of his condemnation, by the Louny monument committee. They planned to reveal the statue in 1915, but it was the war time, therefore they postponed it. On the pedestal there is the beginning of the Hus letter to Louny citizens. Josef Kvasnicka (student of J.V. Myslbek) is the author.

Plaque Column – Column of the Virgin Mary

The oldest baroque monument in Louny dates back to 1673 and it was created by Jan Jiri Bendl. The Column was originally situated on Prague suburb, but at the time of the Plague epidemic it was removed on to the square. On the pedestal there is the chronogram in Latin: ”The Virgin Mary be our Holy protector”. In 1829 Mikulas Rudl gilded it. In the 20^th century the radical wing of Louny citizens wanted to move it out (they saw it as the symbol of obscurantism and dogma), but happily it was not done and the Column survived.