Žirovnice (; german: Serownitz) is a town in

Pelhřimov District Pelhřimov District ( cs, okres Pelhřimov) is a district in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Pelhřimov. Administrative division Pelhřimov District is divided into three administrative districts of municip ...

in the

Vysočina Region The Vysočina Region (; cs, Kraj Vysočina "Highlands Region", , ) is an administrative unit ( cs, kraj) of the Czech Republic, located partly in the south-eastern part of the historical region of Bohemia and partly in the south-west of the his ...

of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. it has about 2,900 inhabitants.

Administrative parts

Villages of Cholunná, Litkovice, Stranná, Štítné, Vlčetín and Žirov are administrative parts of Žirovnice.

Geography

Žirovnice is located about south of

Pelhřimov Pelhřimov (german: Pilgrams) is a town in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation. Administrative parts The ...

and southwest of

Jihlava Jihlava (; german: Iglau) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 50,000 inhabitants. Jihlava is the capital of the Vysočina Region, situated on the Jihlava River on the historical border between Moravia and Bohemia. Historically, Jihlava ...

. It lies in the

Křemešník Highlands Křemešník is a mountain in the municipality of Nový Rychnov in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. The mountain lies near the town of Pelhřimov and is part of Bohemian-Moravian Highlands. With an elevation of above sea level, it is ...

. The small river Žirovnička flows through the town. The area is rich on small ponds.

History

The town was built around a castle of the same name. The first written mention of Žirovnice is from 1358.

Economy

Žirovnice was traditionally town of

weavers Weaver or Weavers may refer to: Activities * A person who engages in weaving fabric Animals * Various birds of the family Ploceidae * Crevice weaver spider family * Orb-weaver spider family * Weever (or weever-fish) Arts and entertainmen ...

, but in 1863, manufacturing of

button A button is a fastener that joins two pieces of fabric together by slipping through a loop or by sliding through a buttonhole. In modern clothing and fashion design, buttons are commonly made of plastic but also may be made of metal, wood, o ...

s from nacre was introduced. In the 1940s, nearly 100 nacre-processing manufactures existed in the small town. After Communists seized power in 1948, these manufactures were

nationalized Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately-owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization usually refers to p ...

and transformed into one company, which still exists.

Sights

Main sights are the Žirovnice Castle and Church of Saints Philip and James. In the castle there is a museum of button-manufacturing and nacre-processing.

Notable people

* Tomáš Štítný ze Štítného (c. 1333 – 1401/1409), nobleman, writer and theologian *

Iva Janžurová Iva Janžurová (born 19 May 1941) is a Czech actress. She attended school in České Budějovice and in 1963, she graduated from the Faculty of Theatre at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. In 1964, she became the main member of Vinoh ...

(born 1941), actress

Twin towns – sister cities

Žirovnice is twinned with: *

Grosshöchstetten Grosshöchstetten is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2018 the former municipality of Schlosswil merged into the municipality of Grosshöchstetten. History Grossh ...

, Switzerland *

Trstená Trstená ( hu, Trsztena or ''Árvanádasd''; pl, Trzciana; Middle German: ''B ngenstadt'') is a town in Tvrdošín District, Žilina Region, central Slovakia. Location Trstená is situated on the Orava River at the Orava (reservoir) in the ...

, Slovakia

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zirovnice Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Populated places in Pelhřimov District