Page 78 - UNESCO_Zatec_2021_A4

HOPS ROUTES THROUGH THE LANDSCAPE
In connection with the cultivation and processing of
hops, a specific road network structure has developed in
the area of the nominated property, which complements
the natural interconnection of both its component
parts. In addition to the primary road network, which The motion of hops through the landscape
enables common communication relations between
individual settlements, there is also a dense network of Based on the physical structure of the road network,
service roads in the landscape, which serves to ensure a significant event also takes place between the two
the operation of the hop field. This network of small component parts. It consists of the movement of
field roads is a significant secondary manifestation of hops through the landscape in the process of their
hop management in the landscape. From the long-term cultivation, processing, and subsequent export.
point of view, the ground plan structure of the basic
road network is relatively stable, rather, the hierarchy Before the harvested hops are prepared into a form
of significance of the individual routes is changing. The intended for sale and use, they must take a relatively
majority of the primary road network is situated in an complex and varying path in the landscape. Its route
elevated and more stable position of river terraces and, if has changed throughout history and is derived from
necessary, descends into the river floodplain in places of
terrain notches and ravines. the technology of the hop processing procedure and
the spatial localisation of its individual phases. The
The main transport connection of both component parts nominated property also illustrates this specificity:
2. Description to the town of Louny. The relationship between the mainly in component part 01, in areas where hops
while in the past, the drying phase took place
is still provided by the historic road leading from Žatec
two nominated component parts is also strengthened
were grown and then dried and then were waiting
by one of the railway lines, which was introduced into
for purchase or mass transfer by a grower to Žatec,
the territory between 1871–1873. The construction of
the railway simplified the export of hops and made the
storage, sulphuring, packaging, certificating and
whole area more accessible. The railway was also used phases of more capacity and more extended
sealing before further sale or export abroad is tied
by seasonal, temporary workers who came every year to the town of Žatec.
78 to work in the hop fields. Part of this railway is part of
the nominated property, and its line also forms the
western delimitation of component part 01. The village The need to dry the hops directly at the place
of Trnovany became a vital transport hub situated by of cultivation is due to the short lifespan of the
the railway, where, in the past, there was not only a train harvested hop cones and the need to reduce their
stop, but also a post office, a telephone station, and, from volume for subsequent transport. Thus, all hops
1902, a telegraph. In the past there were numerous inns from component part 01 must complete their first
in the village and the vicinity. journey through the Žatec landscape before their
export. The transfer of hops from the countryside
The network of service roads is still functional to the to Žatec is a one-off process that takes place every
extent corresponding to current needs of management.
At the same time, it is preserved to the greatest extent year during the harvest season.
in the territory of component part 01. Other historical
service roads are conserved between the two component In the past, the drying of hops took place mainly in
parts. The specific network of access roads is directly villages, where hops were imported from hop fields
related to the method of management of individual hop via a network of service roads. Only large hop drying
fields, the operational relations between the agricultural kilns belonging to the wealthiest owners were
base and the agricultural land, the structure of ownership located outside the village, closer to the hop fields.
relations, and local natural conditions. The complex After drying, the hops were loaded onto a cart and
system of this network and the way it is used is more transported to Žatec.
variable compared to a basic road network and reflects
both the development of cultivation techniques and the The transport of hops from the villages to Žatec
processes taking place in the landscape as part of the
harvest. This network is used all year round in connection continued along with the primary road network
with seasonal work, and more intensively at the time of between the individual municipalities. The safe
harvesting and drying hops. Its fundamental goal is to overcoming of the terrain difference between the
ensure the movement of hops between the hop field, level of the river floodplain and the elevated position
the owner’s registered office, the place of processing, the of the town of Žatec also played an essential role.
location of certification, and the subsequent distribution From the component part 01, the transport of hops
to customers. took place via Trnovany along the main road; as