Hradiště Hrádek

When I first came across the impressive (550 meters long) north-eastern double defensive wall of the fortified settlement on Hrádek Hill on the way from Kamýk to Calvary, I just watched in disbelief for a while. And the fortification in the eastern part was damaged by agricultural activity and was originally a hundred meters longer. The ramparts were probably built by simply stacking clay and stones. The ditches were twelve meters wide and the outer ones were divided at regular intervals by transverse walls, which were to prevent potential attackers from moving freely through the ditch. The elevation of the inner rampart above the bottom of the moat still reaches thirteen meters. The exact dating of the fort is not entirely clear, according to collections it dates back to the Lusatian culture, Hallstatt and the early Middle Ages (9th and 12th centuries). Several finds also come from the Neolithic, Eneolithic and La Tène. Hradiště was probably built in the Late Bronze Age. The 21-hectare fortified settlement is protected in the south and west by the steep slopes of the Elbe valley. The acropolis is considered to be the rocky hill Kalvárie (separated by a gutter from the rest of the fortified settlement) with a magnificent view of the Bohemian Gate - Porta Bohemica, where the river Elbe broke through a canyon up to 140 meters deep through the Bohemian Central Mountains. Although no remnants of fortifications have been preserved around the Calvary, they may have been destroyed during the construction of large vineyards. When I first saw the impressive (550 meters long) north-eastern double rampart of the settlement on Hrádek Hill, I was just looking in disbelief for some time. And what more - the fortification in the eastern part was damaged by agricultural activity and was originally still a hundred meters longer. The mounds were probably built by simply pouring soil and stones. The trenches were twelve meters wide, and the outer walls were divided at regular intervals by transverse walls to prevent any attackers from moving freely through the moat. The elevation of the inner wall above the ditch floor is still thirteen meters. Accurate dating of the hillfort is not entirely unambiguous, according to the collections it dates back to the Lusatian culture, Hallstatt and early Middle Ages (9th and 12th centuries). Several findings also come from Neolithic, Eneolithic and Latene. The fortified settlement probably originated in the younger Bronze Age. The 21 hectare site is protected by steep slopes of the Elbe Valley in the south and west. As the acropolis we consider the rocky hill of Calvary (separated by a gorge from the rest of the settlement area) with a beautiful view of the so called Gate to Bohemia - Porta Bohemica, where the Labe River broke a 140-meter deep canyon through the Central Bohemian Highlands. Although no remains of fortifications have been preserved around the Calvary, they could have been destroyed by building vast vineyards.