Stary Plzenec

First mention of Stary Plzenec (the old Plzen Castle) comes in 976 in connection with a battle in which the Bohemian forces defeated the Bavarians who had invaded Bohemia. It was an important castle, a centre of the entire region.

The following have been preserved up to the present day: the mounds, ditches, part of the walls, the foundations of some buildings plus, first and foremost, the St. Peter Rotunda, a large parish church from the 10th century and the best preserved building in Bohemia from that period.

The area surrounding the castle contained 5 churches, of which the Parish Church of the Virgin Mary is still standing. Originally Romanesque, it was reconstructed in Gothic style in 1695.
Inside, wall paintings (the Christological Cycle) from the era of Charles IV have been preserved.

On the left bank of the Uslava there is the Gothic Church of John the Baptist.

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