Research on the Opava castle kitchen

Between 2015 and 2019, extensive rescue archaeological research was carried out in the area of Müller's House in Opava, at Komenského Street no. 8, connected with the reconstruction of the building and the adjacent garden. The building, you are in now, is located on plots no. 558, 559/1 and 559/2 in the places of the original site of the Opava Castle. The on-site research has shown the beginnings of a very old medieval settlement dating back to the end of the 12th century. However, the Opava Castle itself was built in the area in front of the Ratibořská Gate at the northeastern edge of the town fortifications only around the year 1400, during the reign of Prince Přemek I of Opava, in an area that had already been intensively populated before. For its creation, it was necessary to fill in part of the moat of the town fortifications, into which it was structurally integrated. In the place of its western forecourt, or in the area of the bailey, on the side facing the town, the location of the original castle kitchen, i.e. a two-piece kitchen, is traditionally located (it was equipped with two cooking spaces, which correspond to two hood chimneys). The high proportion of osteological remains, archaeological real estate situations and characteristic objects obtained during the research clearly confirmed this hypothesis.

As part of the research, it was possible to find a significant number of fragments of iron kitchen knives, as well as typical kitchen ceramics with traces of use during cooking, etc. This material was deposited in the place of the original curtain wall.