Kounice (german: Kaunitz) is a market town in

Nymburk District Nymburk District ( cs, okres Nymburk) is a district in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Nymburk. Administrative division Nymburk District is divided into three administrative districts of municipalitie ...

in the

Central Bohemian Region The Central Bohemian Region ( cz, Středočeský kraj, german: Mittelböhmische Region) is an administrative unit ( cz, kraj) of the Czech Republic, located in the central part of its historical region of Bohemia. Its administrative centre is in ...

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 1,700 inhabitants.

Geography

Kounice is located about southwest of

Nymburk Nymburk (; german: Nimburg, Neuenburg an der Elbe) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 15,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the Elbe River. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an ...

and east of

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. It lies in the

Central Elbe Table Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

. The stream of Kounický potok originates here and flows through the market town.

History

The first written mention of Kounice is in a deed of Queen

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

from 1257. The Renaissance fortress was built before 1554. The

House of Liechtenstein The House of Liechtenstein, from which the principality takes its name, is the family which reigns by hereditary right over the principality of Liechtenstein. Only dynastic members of the family are eligible to inherit the throne. The dynasty's m ...

owned the village from 1772 until the establishment of an independent municipality. In 1871, Kounice was promoted to a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

Demographics

Transport

The D11 motorway (part of the

European route E67 European route E 67 is an E-road running from Prague in the Czech Republic to Estonia and by ferry to Finland. It goes via Prague, Wrocław, Warsaw, Kaunas, Panevėžys, Riga, Tallinn, Helsinki. The route is known as the Via Baltic ...

) from Prague to

Hradec Králové Hradec Králové (; german: Königgrätz) is a city of the Czech Republic. It has about 91,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Hradec Králové Region. The historic centre of Hradec Králové is well preserved and is protected by law as an ...

briefly passes through the northern part of the municipal territory.

Sights

One of the main landmarks of Kounice is the Church of Saint James the Great. It is an

Empire style The Empire style (, ''style Empire'') is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 durin ...

church built in 1834–1836, but it has a tower of medieval origin, which remained from the old church. The second landmark is the Kounice Castle. It is a Baroque building with a Renaissance core. After it was destroyed by fire in 1990, only necessary repairs were carried out and the castle has been falling into disrepair ever since.

References

External links

* {{authority control Market towns in the Czech Republic