The castle in the town of Polička is often mentioned in literature, but there are only a few mentions of its location and nothing more. Definitely it was not a huge royal castle as in the towns of Písek or Kadaň. It was not even a small castle outside the gate and it was certainly not older than the town itself – the preserved foundation charter does not mention either the castle or the castellan, and all the powers were in the hands of the mayor. Reports from the 15th and 16th centuries inform us about the location of the castle, so it is clear that it was a passable fortification in front of the Starohradská Gate. Therefore we can conclude that it was a barbican which, however, was older that the other ones. The term ‘castle’ was also used for the barbican in the town of Slaný. Similar fortifications were built during the Hussite wars and especially after their end. To sum it all up, although the name ‘castle’ is used, it was not a real castle. 

The shooting range is described in detail in the booklet by Stanislav Konečný: Polička Shooters and Sharp-Shooters, Litomyšl 2008. The oldest mention of competitive shootings is from 1613 but the greatest upsurge happened in the 19th century when uniformed sharp-shooters were members of one of the prestigious associations.   

Shooting targets (and not only them) can be seen in the town ​​museum, which is at the end of this street - more at www.cbmpolicka.cz. 

(picture captions)

• The situation plan of the approximate location of the ‘castle’
• Shooting targets