Settlement Context of Sacred Country Architecture. Vykleky estate of courtier Zbraslav and his wife Domaslava
Abstract
The defunct village of Vykleky in the Nymburk region has attracted the attention of Czech medieval archaeologists for two reasons. There was a solitary church situated, in the high Middle Ages, on a hill about 400 m from the village.
The second reason is the country estate of Zbraslav († 1238), one of King Wenceslas I’s prominent courtiers. The question is: was Zbraslav’s estate really situated in the proximity of the church, and did they make up a single whole? The current answer is no.
Surface collections have proved no settlement activities on the church site nor around it. Analyses of written sources and broader topographic connections show that Vykleky was not an ordinary country location but belonged in the specific category of villages in the hinterland of the period centres.
The early existence of a church is thus not surprising, and its origin was not necessarily connected with Zbraslav and his family.