Town hall in Žatec, Gothic-origin town hall in Žatec, Czech Republic

The Žatec town hall is a Gothic-founded building substantially rebuilt in the Classical style, standing on Svobody Square in the centre of the town's historic reserve. It is a four-winged, single-storey structure with a hipped roof enclosing a courtyard covered by a flat glass roof; its five-axis facade becomes six-axis on the upper floor.

The first written mention of the town hall dates to 1362, and a completed building is documented by 1376. A cloth-trade dispute led the town to build a market hall, to which the council added its own chambers; a three-storey gate tower with sandstone arcades already stood in this earliest phase. A large Renaissance rebuilding took place in 1559, directed by the Pardubice builder Jiřík Všetečka, and further repairs followed fires in the 18th century.

The building's position is deliberate: seen from the southern approach road from the Pražská brána, the town hall screens the parish church, likely a choice of the town council. The tower sits exactly on the axis of that approach and at the precise centre of the walled medieval town.

The town hall stands on náměstí Svobody in the centre of the historic reserve, with its tower on the axis of the approach from Pražská brána. The four-winged building encloses a courtyard covered by a flat glass roof. The ground floor once housed shops and a pharmacy; today it serves as the Municipal Office, so visitors should check opening times before entering.

The town hall tower once held a prison for wealthier citizens, and a prison chapel is known from plans kept in the town museum before World War II, now lost. The tower stands exactly on the axis of the approach road from the south, in the precise centre of the walled medieval town.