Gold Coin 5000 CZK City Monument Reserve Olomouc 2024 Standard

1/2 Oz Gold Coin - Olomouc City Monument Reserve

The reverse side of the coin consists of a collage of important architectural monuments of the Olomouc City Conservation Reserve. The Holy Trinity Column and the bell tower of St. Moritz Church are depicted in the foreground. In the background, the ground plan of St. Moritz Church is shown, including the representation of the vaulted ribs. At the upper edge of the coin is the text 'CITY OF OLOMOUC', at the lower edge the year of mintage '2024'. The initials of the author of the coin, academic sculptor Zbyněk Fojtů, consisting of a composition of the letters "F" and "Z", are placed on the left near the upper part of the Holy Trinity Column.

On the obverse side, the heraldic animals from the great state emblem are depicted in the central band of the coin field - the Czech lion at the top, the Moravian eagle in the middle and the Silesian eagle at the bottom. Below the Silesian eagle is the denomination of the coin with the abbreviation of the monetary unit "5 000 CZK". In the left part of the coin there are stylized Gothic arches and in the right part there is an architectural fragment from the Olomouc Town Hall with the astronomical clock. The description of the coin states the text 'CITY MONUMENT RESERVATIONS' and 'CZECH REPUBLIC'. The mark of the Czech Mint, consisting of the letters 'Č' and 'M', is to the left of the central band.

The historical part of Olomouc was declared a municipal conservation reserve in 1971. After Prague, it is the second largest conservation reserve in the Czech Republic, comprising 697 buildings with descriptive numbers on an area of 87 ha.
The first settlement in the area of today's Olomouc is evidenced by excavations dating back to the Neolithic period before 6000 BC. At the beginning of the 11th century, Moravia came under the rule of a minor branch of the Přemyslids and the Bohemian Prince Břetislav chose Olomouc as his seat. Around 1070, a new Olomouc castle of stone is founded and the city's layout takes its first shape. In the same period, the Moravian bishopric is restored and a monastery is founded.
In 1104, the Romanesque construction of St. Wenceslas Cathedral and the Bishop's Palace begins on Wenceslas Hill.
Between 1239 and 1246, Olomouc is elevated to the status of a city and in 1253 it receives the status of a royal city. The granting of the privilege of the annual market and the right of mileage starts the rapid development of the city.
In the 13th to 15th centuries, a medieval town with a dense development of merchants', bourgeois and noblemen's houses takes shape. The original fortifications are replaced by solid city walls. St. Wenceslas Cathedral was rebuilt in Gothic style after a fire in 1265. The Gothic church of St. Catherine (1287), the town hall on Horní náměstí (1378), the town hall tower (1443) and the Franciscan monastery church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary (1454) date from this period.
The first mention of the Olomouc astronomical clock dates back to the Renaissance. The town hall is complemented by a Renaissance loggia with a portal, and the town hall tower is completed in its Gothic-Renaissance form to its present height of 75 metres. A number of wealthy bourgeoisie have combined the original Gothic plots and built exhibition houses and palaces on them. Among the most beautiful bourgeois Renaissance buildings in Olomouc are the House of Matthias Hauenschild and the Edelman Palace. In 1573, the second oldest university in Bohemia was founded in Olomouc.
The Thirty Years' War brought dramatic devastation to Olomouc. After the departure of the Swedish troops, only 168 of the original 700 houses remained inhabitable. The population dropped from over 30,000 to 1,670.
The city is being rebuilt in the Baroque style. A great contribution was made by Cardinal Charles II of Liechtenstein, who invited Italian architects, sculptors and painters to Olomouc. Six unique Baroque fountains with figural decoration based on antiquity were built in places with a high population density - the Fountain of Hercules, the Fountain of Caesar, the Fountain of Jupiter, the Fountain of Tritons, the Fountain of Mercury and the Fountain of Neptune.
In 1709 Olomouc was hit by a great fire, followed by a plague epidemic in 1713 - 1715. The Holy Trinity Column in the Upper Square and the Marian Column in the Lower Square were created as a token of gratitude with the disappearance of the plague. The 35-metre high column in the Upper Square is the largest Baroque sculpture in Central Europe.
The year 1655, when Olomouc was declared a fortress town, is a crucial year. The modern bastion fortress also included a number of outposts or the classical building of the Theresian Armoury. Olomouc remained a fortress town until the end of the 19th century. The demolition of the fortification system spared the Terezín Gate. The baroque-classical gate, which received its name in honour of the visiting monarch Maria Theresa, is decorated with the emblems of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and is today the only surviving gate of the fortress.
The abolition of the city walls freed up new space for the tightly bounded city to grow in the next century.

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