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Pavel Navrkal (21 months ago)
Jana Dočkalová (2 years ago)
Jaroslav Scherrer (2 years ago)
Lucie Kosíková - Weissová (3 years ago)
Jirina Brezinova (3 years ago)
Archangel Michael's Church was built in the 12th century for the newcomers who were settling down in the neighbourhood of Znojmo Castle. The consecration to Archangel Michael and the location on the highest point of Znojmo seem to imply that this church might have replaced an ancient pagan occult place. However, the medieval history of the church does not seem to be free from dramatic events: in the early-15th century the Hussites bombed the church so it had to be built anew. In the 16th century Lutheran preachers got hold of it, when the church tower collapsed for the first time (1581). In 1624 the Jesuits took over the ravaged place and rebuilt it. In 1642 the church tower collapsed for the second time, not to be built again as part of the church structure. In 1852 they built a new tower separately from the church.
References:Derbent is the southernmost city in Russia, occupying the narrow gateway between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus Mountains connecting the Eurasian steppes to the north and the Iranian Plateau to the south. Derbent claims to be the oldest city in Russia with historical documentation dating to the 8th century BCE. Due to its strategic location, over the course of history, the city changed ownership many times, particularly among the Persian, Arab, Mongol, Timurid, Shirvan and Iranian kingdoms.
Derbent has archaeological structures over 5,000 years old. As a result of this geographic peculiarity, the city developed between two walls, stretching from the mountains to the sea. These fortifications were continuously employed for a millennium and a half, longer than any other extant fortress in the world.
A traditionally and historically Iranian city, the first intensive settlement in the Derbent area dates from the 8th century BC. The site was intermittently controlled by the Persian monarchs, starting from the 6th century BC. Until the 4th century AD, it was part of Caucasian Albania which was a satrap of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. In the 5th century Derbent functioned as a border fortress and the seat of Sassanid Persians. Because of its strategic position on the northern branch of the Silk Route, the fortress was contested by the Khazars in the course of the Khazar-Arab Wars. In 654, Derbent was captured by the Arabs.
The Sassanid fortress does not exist any more, as the famous Derbent fortress as it stands today was built from the 12th century onward. Derbent became a strong military outpost and harbour of the Sassanid empire. During the 5th and 6th centuries, Derbent also became an important center for spreading the Christian faith in the Caucasus.
The site continued to be of great strategic importance until the 19th century. Today the fortifications consist of two parallel defence walls and Naryn-Kala Citadel. The walls are 3.6km long, stretching from the sea up to the mountains. They were built from stone and had 73 defence towers. 9 out of the 14 original gates remain.
In Naryn-Kala Citadel most of the old buildings, including a palace and a church, are now in ruins. It also holds baths and one of the oldest mosques in the former USSR.
In 2003, UNESCO included the old part of Derbent with traditional buildings in the World Heritage List.