Znojmo - Pöltenberg, fortified settlement Saint Hippolytus

Pöltenberg/Hradiště is a district of Znojmo. With its fortified settlement of Saint Hippolytus, it counts as one of the most important historical locations of Moravia, and can be traced back to the Stone Age. Due to its strategically favourable location on a mountain ridge above the Thaya, it evolved into one of the most significant fortified settlements of the Moravian kingdom. The first fortified settlement was established in the Bronze Age and constitutes a part of the present day village Hradiště. A fortress divided into two main sections, covering almost 22 hectares, functioned as the economic, political, and religious centre of Western Moravia and Lower Austria. As opposed to the other large Moravian settlements, which were damaged by Hungarian raids, the settlement of Saint Hippolytus stood until the middle of the 10th century.

The occupation of Moravia by the Bohemian Přemyslid dynasties Oldřich and Břetislav reduced the significance of Hradiště. Due to the development of medieval warfare, the political centre of the region was moved to the ridge where the castle of Znojmo is located. Below the castle a medieval city was built. In the centuries to follow, the history of the settlement would be connected to the order of the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star, who administered their monastery at this place since 1240.