*A short visit to the historic East Bohemian royal town of Polička: 2 km*

• Polička was one of several royal towns founded in 1265 by Přemyslid king Ottakar II as he settled the previously sparsely populated east Bohemian region. The settlement guarded a branch of the ancient trading route between Bohemia and Moravia, sometimes called the Trstenice trail. In the 13th century, the prehistoric trail would have emerged from the dense border forests near Polička.
• Polička was circled with a massive fortification wall, much of which survives to this day. The town experienced violent upheavals during the Hussite and Thirty Years Wars, suffering at least two catastrophic fires. The consequence is that the center of town was rebuilt during the Baroque period and today features one of the most impressive town halls in the country. The main square also has an impressively tall 18th century Plague column.
• Polička is definitely worth a stop when touring East Bohemia. The historic town center is small and a walk around the fortification wall and an exploration of the streets around the main square, possibly including a visit to the park area (map point 3) will take less than an hour. The town was the birthplace of the composer Bohuslav Martinů, whose family lived in the church tower (map point 7) – which can be toured by purchasing tickets at the town museum (map point 9).
• There are various refreshment spots in town, but a good option is the cosy café, Palačinka (map point 8). In summer, the café has a separate pretty garden area.

Note: click ‘Show on Mapy.com’ above to go to a full screen version directly on the mapy.com site. This can be used for online navigation, saved or exported as a GPX file

Directions

• The regional train and bus station is approximately 600m from the town center, along the GREEN hiking trail. There are various paid parking areas close to the center
• The route around the fortifications and the town square is pretty obvious, so hopefully does not require detailed directions