Budeč, hillfort in Kováry, Czech Republic

Budeč is a hillfort on a promontory in Kováry, about 15 km northwest of Prague. Its oval acropolis covers over 3 hectares within ramparts over 700 m long, and the outer bailey adds over 19 hectares. The rotunda of Saints Peter and Paul, with a nave from around 900, stands beside a cemetery, and the outline of the demolished Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary is marked in the grass a few dozen metres away.

The hillfort was founded in the 9th century as one of the earliest princely seats of the Přemyslid family. The church was built shortly before the year 900 and remained in use until the 11th century, when the fort lost its importance.

Budeč's name is linked to St. Wenceslaus legends: the future duke was sent here as a boy to learn the Psalter from a priest called Učen. In the 1840s the educator Karel Slavoj Amerling, inspired by this tradition, named his Czech industrial school in Prague "Budeč".

Paths cross open terrain and follow parts of the old fortification lines, making it easy to understand the scale of the fort. A walk around takes about an hour and requires sturdy shoes, as some sections pass over grass and uneven ground.

Archaeologists have found remains of wooden structures in the ramparts, showing that parts of the defenses consisted of timber palisades. This construction method was typical of Slavic forts in the early Middle Ages and differed clearly from later stone castles.