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Polička: What to See Between the Town Walls and Martinů’s Tower
What to see in Polička in one day: the town walls, the plague column and the church tower where Bohuslav Martinů was born. Plus a short history and a team Treasure Hunt in the historic center.
What to see in Polička in one day? Walk the circuit of the town walls, stop at the plague column on the main square and climb the tower of kostel sv. Jakuba (St. James Church), where composer Bohuslav Martinů was born. Everything is within walking distance. This royal dowry town on the border of Bohemia and Moravia keeps its medieval layout, so you can’t get lost here, only held up. And it pays to linger.
Polička at a Glance
The historic core of Polička is small and easy to read. The walls enclose the square with the town hall, St. James Church stands a short way from it and Centrum Bohuslava Martinů (Bohuslav Martinů Center) is within easy reach. This overview will help before you set out.
Plan the order of your stops depending on whether you’re drawn more to music or to stone.
- Status: a royal dowry town that belonged to the property of the Czech queens.
- Founded: during the reign of King Přemysl Otakar II.
- Fortifications: walls with bastions, and you can walk their full circuit.
- Square: a baroque plague column and the town hall as the two landmarks.
- St. James Church: in the tower, the small room where Bohuslav Martinů was born.
- Bohuslav Martinů Center: an exhibition on the composer, the town museum and a gallery.
- Game: Treasure Hunt Polička with treasures in the historic center.
What Makes Polička Surprising
Polička’s strongest story played out in a tower. The Martinů family lived in a small room high above the town because the father served as the tower watchman, guarding the town against fire. So young Bohuslav saw the world mostly from above in his first years: roofs, walls and the fields beyond them. They say this is where his music got its particular sense of space.
The second surprise is the walls. Don’t expect a few scraps of masonry tucked between houses. The bastioned fortifications hold together, and a quiet walking route runs along them. In the morning, when the lanes are empty, you’ll best understand how tightly enclosed the medieval town was.
And then there’s the square. The plague column with its rich sculptural decoration stands in the middle, the town hall closes it off on one side and the burghers’ houses around it keep a unified line. Sit on a bench for a while and look at the statues of the saints one by one. Each has a different gesture.
What to See in Polička
Five stops are enough for one day. You’ll cover the center on foot; you’ll need the car at most for an afternoon trip into the surrounding area.
- Palackého náměstí (Palacký Square): the plague column, the town hall, burghers’ houses and cafés to sit in.
- St. James Church: a neo-Gothic building with a tower that holds the room where Bohuslav Martinů was born. Ask at the tourist information center about visiting the tower.
- Town wall circuit: a walk along the walls and bastions that shows you the town from the outside.
- Bohuslav Martinů Center: an exhibition on the composer, the town museum and a gallery under one roof.
- Hrad Svojanov (Svojanov Castle): a Gothic castle near Polička, a good afternoon destination by car or bike.
History of the Town
Polička was founded as a royal town under Přemysl Otakar II, who established fortified settlements on the border of Bohemia and Moravia. It later became a dowry town, meaning property whose income belonged to the Czech queens.
The walls you now walk around as a visitor had a real defensive role. The town went through wars, pawning and fires, but the layout inside the walls survived.
The turning point came with a great fire that hit a large part of the town, including St. James Church. The church was then rebuilt in neo-Gothic style, tower included, and in that tower’s small room Bohuslav Martinů was later born.
The composer spent much of his life abroad, but he always claimed his hometown. His remains were brought back from Switzerland and today rest in the Polička cemetery. If you want to follow the story from the tower, this is where you’ll find its ending.
Polička for a Company Trip
For a corporate group, Polička is a good size. The center is compact enough that the team doesn’t need to travel between sites, and varied enough that the hunt isn’t just a walk down one street. Treasure Hunt Polička leads through the historic center past the plague column and St. James Church.
Players have tablets or phones with our GPS app and see all the treasures on the map on their screen. The team chooses its own order, so strategy starts with the first look at the map. A treasure activates within a radius of roughly 10 to 20 meters, depending on the terrain and the type of game.
The winner isn’t the smartest or the fastest team, but the more patient and attentive one. You’ll only find the answer if you really look around you. Each of our games keeps a team busy for 2 to 3 hours.
You can book the game as full-service event management, where we bring the tablets and instructors with a tablet are on site, or as a self-service game. Every order includes Jistota (Certainty): if the weather doesn’t cooperate, we switch the outdoor game to a story game in indoor mode, and the program goes ahead on the original date. The game also has no capacity limit; it works for a small team as well as a company-wide corporate event.
We’ve been running Treasure Hunts since 2013. If Polička wins you over, Treasure Hunt Kutná Hora and Treasure Hunt Telč work the same way, in other historic towns from our lineup of outdoor games.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should you see in Polička in one day? The square with the plague column and town hall, St. James Church with Bohuslav Martinů’s room, the town wall circuit and the Bohuslav Martinů Center. You can walk to all of it.
Where was Bohuslav Martinů born? In a small room in the tower of St. James Church, where the family lived because the father served as the tower watchman.
Why is Polička a royal dowry town? The town was part of the dowry of the Czech queens, meaning property whose income belonged to the queen.
What’s worth seeing near Polička? The closest destination for a trip is Svojanov Castle, reachable by car or bike.
Is Treasure Hunt Polička played in the rain too? The program goes ahead on the original date. Instead of the outdoor game, a story game runs in indoor mode with questions on screen, and the team sits together under one roof.
The best place to start in Polička is the square by the plague column: from there it’s a short walk to the church, the tower and the walls. If you’d like to explore the town as a game, launch Treasure Hunt Polička and let your team hunt for treasures between the walls and the tower where Bohuslav Martinů’s story began. Send us your date and a rough headcount, and we’ll prepare the route between the tower and the walls specifically for your group.
Treasure Hunt Policka
Our instructors run the game with tablets, or you start it yourselves on your phones. Tell us the number of people and the date, we will get back to you the same day.
Summary
- In one day in Polička, you can walk to the main square with the plague column, St. James Church, the town wall circuit and the Bohuslav Martinů Center.
- Composer Bohuslav Martinů was born in a small room in the tower of St. James Church, where his family lived because his father served as tower watchman.
- Polička was founded under King Přemysl Otakar II and became a royal dowry town whose income belonged to the Czech queens.
- Polička's bastioned town walls survive largely intact, and visitors can walk their full circuit around the historic center.
- Svojanov Castle, a Gothic castle near Polička, is the closest trip destination and can be reached by car or bike.
Want to explore Polička with your team? Send us your date and group size and we will tailor Treasure Hunt Policka to you.
