Husinec (Prachatice District)

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Husinec is a small town in the Prachatice District of the South Bohemian Region in the Czech Republic. It has about 1,400 residents and is known as the birthplace of Jan Hus. The historic town centre is protected as an urban monument zone.

Geography
Husinec is located about 4 km north of Prachatice and 35 km west of České Budějovice, in the Bohemian Forest Foothills. The Blanice River flows through the town, and to the south lies the Husinec Reservoir (built 1935–1939 for flood protection) covering about 61 hectares.

Name and administration
The name comes from the Czech word for goose, meaning “the dwelling of geese.” Husinec consists of three municipal parts.

Transport
There are no railways or major roads passing through Husinec.

History
The first written mention of Husinec is from 1291, and it became a town in 1359. A castle area existed nearby, and over the centuries the town was owned by several noble families and was part of the Golden Trail trade route, which carried goods like salt, wine, and spices. In 1601 it was sold to the Kolowrat family; in 1630 the estate passed to Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg. After the Battle of White Mountain, many followers of Jan Hus left the area. From 1655 to 1848 it belonged to the Schwarzenberg family. In 2007 Husinec regained town status.

Landmarks
The birthplace of Jan Hus is a national cultural monument. The original Gothic house where he was born has been open to the public since 1873, and there is a statue of Jan Hus on the town square. The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (parish church) dates to 1804, rebuilt after a fire in 1802. The Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius is a neo-Romanesque cemetery church built in 1870.