Description of the Route:
Svobody Square – Mostní St – Dlouhoveská St – Pod Kalichem St – red marked route to Žižkuv Peak
Žižkuv PeakOriginally known as the Gallows Peak, this hill offering superb viewsof Sušice was renamed Žižkuv Peak to commemorate the 500th anniversaryof the death of the military commander Jan Žižka.A 2.46 m tall cast iron chalice was placed at the top of the peak.The chalice was made by the Leopold Schifauer Company based inKlatovy, a machine manufacturer and iron and metal foundry, for4,456.- CZK. The chalice was embedded into the top of the 3 m tallpedestal that was built by Ing R Grabinger, a builder from Sušice,for 3,200 .- CZK. The stonethat was needed for theconstruction was quarriedin the hill itself and it waspaid for by the town. Thecosts for the monumentwere paid by the town andfrom public funds. The chalicewas officially unveiledon 28 October 1924.
Sušice during the Hussite revolutionWhen Tábor became the centre of the Hussite movement (1420), Sušice proclaimedits allegiance to the Hussites. For the entire period of existence of themovement, Sušice was a member of the Tábor association of Hussite towns.The people of Sušice participated in all the major battles – for example duringthe siege of Švihov in 1425, the siege of Plzen in 1426 and the siege ofZvíkov in 1429. In 1432 they helped to take the castle of Lopaty.Rabí became the refuge and support place for all enemies of the chalice(symbol of the Hussite movement) in the region. The Hussite armies besiegedthe castle twiceand managed toconquer it, oncein 1420 and then ayear later in 1421.After the final defeat of theHussites in Lipany in 1434,Sušice gave itself up to theprovincial army.Sušice had two representativesat the congress of1435 in Jihlava, Ondrej,a priest from Sušice andMaster Václav of Sušice,where the agreement madebetween the Basel counciland the Czech Hussites,was approved. Sušice wasone of the 40 towns thatswore obedience and loyaltyto King Sigmund.
Jan Žižka of Trocnov (1360 – 1424)This genius commander and leading representative of the Hussite movement was born in 1360in Trocnov into the family of a minor squire. At the age of twelve Žižka lost his left eye in asword fight. In 1400 he joined a band that was destroying and pillaging the property of the Rožmberk‘s family. In 1412 he went into Royal service, working for King Wenceslas IV,and he lived in Prague. Under the influence of the preacher Jan Hus,he became an ardent follower of the reformation. On 30. 7. 1419 he participated in the defenestration at the New TownHall (when Prague aldermen were thrown out of the window). He left Prague with other radical Hussites for Pilsen where, already in the position of a leader, he commanded his first battle.In March 1420 he had to leave Pilsen as the Catholics were growing much stronger in the town, and he settled in the newly established town of Tábor where he was elected one of the four Tábor leaders. On the way to Tábor he fought a winning battle at Sudomer (25. 3.) against the Catholic army of feudal lords from Strakonice and Písek (there were 2000 Catholics and 500 Hussites). Žižka took up a defensive position on a dam between two ponds, one was filled in and one was empty. The Catholic army wanted to approach the Hussites across the empty pond, which was very muddy and the soldiers, in their heavy armour, started to sink into the mud. The light Hussite army were able to despatch them with ease. In 1420 Žižka defeated the first Crusadersat Vítkov near Prague. In the following year Žižka lost his second eye when besieging the castle of Rabí. Despite the fact that hewas blind, he was still a superb commander and in 1422 he managed to defeat the second Crusader army that was sent against him and which fled in horror. Žižka died on 11 October 1424 after a short illness during an army campaign near Pribyslav.
