4 Best Sights in Western Bohemia, Czech Republic

This neo-Renaissance pillared hall, along the river, is the town's centerpiece. Built from 1871 to 1881, it has four springs: Rusalka, Libussa, Prince Wenceslas, and Millpond.

Dating to the 13th century, this is a web of multilevel tunnels. Used for storing food and producing beer and wine, many of the labyrinthine passageways are dotted with wells and their accompanying wooden water-pipe systems. Tours last about 50 minutes. The entrance is in the Brewery Museum.

Laced with white wrought iron, this elegant colonnade at the edge of Dvořákovy sady was built in 1882 by the Viennese architectural duo Fellner and Helmer, who sprinkled the Austro-Hungarian Empire with many such edifices during the late 19th century. They also designed the town's theater, the quaint wooden Tržní kolonáda (Market Colonnade) next to the Vřídlo Colonnade, and one of the old bathhouses.

In the lower part of Náměstí Krále Jiřího z Poděbrad stand two rickety-looking groups of timbered medieval buildings (11 houses in all) divided by a narrow alley. The houses, forming the area known as Špalíček, date to the 13th century, and were once home to many Jewish merchants. Židovská ulice (Jews' Street), running uphill to the left of the Špalíček, served as the actual center of the ghetto. The small, unmarked alley running to the left off Židovská is called ulička Zavražděných (Lane of the Murdered). It was the scene of an outrageous act of violence in 1350: pressures had been building for some time between Jews and Christians. Incited by an anti-Semitic bishop, the townspeople chased the Jews into the street, closed off both ends, and massacred them. Now only the name attests to the slaughter.