Kostelní náměstí 28, Medieval house in Prachatice, Czech Republic

Kostelní náměstí 28 is a one-storey Renaissance house built in the mid-16th century against the inner Gothic town wall. Its attic storey ends in a crenellated parapet with a central arched gable on pilasters modelled on the Scuola Grande di San Marco in Venice. The four-axis facade carries sgraffito and painted decoration of 1557, and a gallery on the rear side rests on the 14th-century wall.

The house was probably built as a new structure in the mid-16th century, after the third ring of the town's outer fortification was finished and the space of the former wall lane could be built on. During the Thirty Years' War the part facing the parkán was badly damaged, as shown in Heinrich de Verle's 1670 veduta. Major internal alterations followed in the 19th century, and the sgraffiti were uncovered and restored in 1992.

The building sits on a square named after a church that once stood here, linking the structure to Prachatice's religious and mercantile past. This placement shows how medieval towns organized their public spaces around both spiritual and trading functions.

The house is located on Prachatice's central square and is easily reached on foot from the town's main areas. Parking options are available nearby, making it convenient to visit the site.

The attic frieze carries a German inscription dated 1557: "Disteln und Dornen stechen sehr, falsche Zungen noch viel mehr" — thistles and thorns prick hard, false tongues harder still. The naked Venus figure holds a spear like Pallas Athena and stands not in foam or a shell but among thorns, part of a Neoplatonic programme on the two Venuses.