PORTALS OF CHEB
OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF CITY CHEB
TOURIST INFOCENTRE
HISTORICAL CHEB FOUNDATION
CULTURAL CENTER SVOBODA
WEST CZECH THEATER CHEB
CITY LIBRARY IN CHEB
SIGHTS
HOUSES ON THE SQUARE AND THE PEDESTRIAN ZONE
SPALÍČEK
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Spalíček
Accessible to the public only during operating hours of the businesses residing here.
The group of medieval town houses known as Špalíček is the symbol of the historical town square in Cheb. The bizarre assembly of 11 houses separated by the narrow Kramářská Lane has been gradually growing on the site of market and meat stalls since the 13th century. The original wooden stalls were replaced by stone structures to which half-timbered floors were added over the centuries. This fact allows for two different interpretations of the origin of its German name “Stock” (i.e. the stacking of floors on top of each other or a butcher’s stock used for meat cutting).
According to the oldest picture from 1472, the ground plan of the two blocks has been largely preserved to our time. Only the third row of the houses with meat shops, which had stood on the west side of the town square, was pulled down in 1809. The remaining houses were at risk of being demolished during the reconstruction of the town between 1956 and 1962 when, due to their dilapidated condition, plans were contemplated for their replacement by a modern structure or for creating a mere silhouette of their outer walls cast from concrete. Finally, a decision was made to launch restoration work in 1960 and Špalíček was spared. It is, however, a mere set decoration consisting of the historical outer walls, while its interior layout, which is hinged to an inner steel structure with concrete ceilings, is completely modern.
(bh)
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