Volary, Prachatice dist., South Bohemian Region
Field fortification
(1618–1620)
Known as ‘Volarské šance’ (‘Volary Banks‘), the infantry redoubt with two artillery bastions dates to the beginning of the Thirty Years’ War. The field fortification was built on the ‘Gold Trail’ in 1618. It was of crucial importance for both sides of the starting conflict – for the Austrian Imperial forces to reach Bohemia and for the Czech estates to stop them. Many attempts to take control over the fortification happened and the changed the holder several time. The last conquest of this strategic point is dated to July 1620. Later on, the site was unexpectedly abandoned by the Estates and the way for the passage of Maximilian I of Bavaria’s troops into Bohemia was free. The final battle of the Revolt of the Czech Estates on ‘Bílá Hora’ (‘White Mountain’) followed in November 1620, when the Czech rebels were fatally defeated. Surveys at ‘Volarské šance’ uncovered relics of fortifications, parts of armour, weapons and ammunition as well as the personal belongings of soldiers, and economic equipment.
References: Meduna 1990; Beneš J. a kol. 1995; Kuna a kol. 2004.
Navigation points: N 48°54'15.88", E 13°49'17.57".
Map notes: A – redoubt; B–C – artillery bastions; D–E – hollows, originally ammunition cellars; F – connecting ditches. Map symbols are available in the Downloads section.
Selected fulltext articles and reports for further reading. Complete bibliographical records are available in the Downloads section as the List of publications.
Archeologický atlas Čech – VolaryBeneš, J. a kol. 1995: Soubor militarií z počátku třicetileté války z Volarských šancí, Archeologické rozhledy 47/3, 461–480.Kuna, M. a kol. 2004: Nedestruktivní archeologie. Teorie, metody a cíle.Meduna, P. 1990: Morphology of field fortifications of the17th–19thcenturies. A contribution to surfaceresearch. In: Z. Smetánka (ed.): Studies in Postmedieval Archaeology, Praha: Archeologický ústav AV ČR, 75–86.