Prevét

Prevét (from Latin locus privatus – private place, Old Czech prevít) is a medieval toilet.

It was a small room located around the outer perimeter of the building, e.g. castles, chateaux, monasteries and municipal buildings, in the form of a protruding small bay window on corbels. This type of toilet had no flushing mechanism. The waste from it fell freely to the ground or ran down the walls, and the excrement was collected, for example, in the castle moat, at the foot of the palace, or in the open space in front of the house. It was therefore desirable that there should be no window, door or another prevét below the prevét. In more progressive cases, for example in monasteries, there was also a prevét opening into the area of a stream or river. Prevét, however, did not have to be just part of the palace, it could also stand alone on the fortification perimeter or the curtain wall. In some cases, there were also toilet towers. But prevét was not the only type of toilet in the medieval castle. Some castles contained toilets within their perimeter walls. A so-called toilet shaft then led from the toilet area through the masonry.

Our oldest prevét dates from the first half of the 12th century and is located at Přimda Castle.