Chodsko

Domažlice

Chodsko, historic border area of Západočeský kraj (region), Czech Republic. It roughly corresponds to Domažlice okres (district), along the border with Germany. The 14th-century “Chode Privileges” granted by King John of Bohemia to the Chods (a Czech-speaking ethnic group) as guardians of the frontier helped shape a distinctive culture and a spirit of Czech nationalism. The documents of the privileges were kept at Chode Castle in Domažlice, Chodsko’s main town and the district’s centre, and they inspired Jan Kozina’s revolt against Habsburg oppression in 1693. Chodsko guarded the Všerubsky Pass, southwest of Domažlice, where in 1040 the Bohemian prince Břetislav I defeated the army of the German king Henry III and where in 1431 Hussite troops frightened off a larger Roman Catholic army.

Prospecting for gold along the Radbuza River, which crosses Chodsko, began in medieval times; cloth weaving was a traditional industry. Glassworks were established in Domažlice in the 18th century. Today Domažlice is preserved as a historic town under national trust. Clothing, wood carvings, baked goods, dairy products, fruit preserves, and industrial jet looms (modern shuttleless looms) are produced in the region.

Chodsko’s mountainous terrain is nearly two-fifths forest and is a centre for winter sports. Tourists are also drawn by Domažlice’s architecture and festivals. The town’s main square is surrounded by houses with Renaissance, Baroque, and Empire arcades, balconies, and gables and is dominated by the 13th-century tower beside the Church of the Birth of the Virgin Mary on the northern side of the square. The Ethnographic Museum of Chodsko is located in Domažlice, which is also the site of an annual Chode festival of song and dance; the traditional costumes and bagpipes, unique in the Czech Republic to the Chods and the people of Strakonice in Jihoceský kraj, are featured at the festival. Chodsko is also known for the writer Jindřich Šimon Baar, who is commemorated by a statue near Klenči pod Čerchovem, his native village.

Domažlice has rail and road connections to Plzeň (Pilsen) and Germany.