Davle, Prague-West dist., Central Bohemian Region

A medieval landscape complex comprising the monastery on ‘Ostrov’ island near Davle, the monastery town of ‘Sekanka’ at the confluence of the Vltava and Sázava rivers and surrounding passage routes from the 11th century to the 13th century. Founded around the year 1000, the Benedictine Monastery of the Decollation of St John the Baptist was heavily damaged during the Brandenburg pillage of Bohemia (1278-1283) and definitively abandoned after the Hussite Wars (1419-1434). The monastery town of ‘Sekanka’ with evidence of stone fortifications, trade and long-distance contacts was founded in the 13th century but was soon abandoned during the Brandenburg raids and never renewed, probably as a result of the lack of an adequate agricultural hinterland. Excavations of key importance for Czech archaeology were conducted at both sites between the 1950s and the 1980s.

References: Stehlík 1947; Richter 1982; Brych – Stehlíková 2003; Klápště 2005, 366–376.

Navigation points: N 49°52'45.55", E 14°23'39.34" (Sekanka); N 49°52'50.18", E 14°23'26.70" (monastery); N 49°52'40.83", E 14°23'22.16" (hollow ways).