Velká Dobrá is a municipality and village in

Kladno District Kladno District ( cs, okres Kladno) is a district ('' okres'') within the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. The capital of the district is the city of Kladno. List of municipalities Běleč - Běloky - Beřovice - Bílichov - Ble ...

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 1,800 inhabitants.

Etymology

Velká Dobrá means literally "Great Good" or "Large Good". The name refers to "good water" or "fertile land". There were formerly two separate municipalities, Malá Dobrá and Velká Dobrá, earlier called Hořejší and Dolejší Dobrá (i.e. "Upper" and "Lower").

Geography

Velká Dobrá is located about southwest of

Kladno Kladno (; german: Kladen) is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 67,000 inhabitants. It is the largest city in the region and together with its adjacent suburban areas has a population of more than 110,000. ...

and northwest 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

Křivoklát Highlands Křivoklát (german: Pürglitz) is a market town in Rakovník District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 700 inhabitants. It is known for the Křivoklát Castle. Administrative parts Villages of Častonice and Pí ...

. The highest point is the hill Veselov with an elevation of .

History

There is evidence of human inhabitation in the region of Velká Dobrá since

prehistory Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

. A late 19th century

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

investigation led by

Josef Szombathy Josef Szombathy born Szombathy József (11 June 1853 – 9 November 1943) was an Austro-Hungarian archaeologist; he was present when the Venus of Willendorf was discovered in 1908. The Venus of Willendorf is an statuette of a female figure, di ...

discovered a large middle

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

(ca. 1200 BCE) grave site near the village in the forest of Hora. A monument constructed over 50 years stood over the largest grave mound. Around sixty graves were investigated, yielding bronze weapons, tools and utensils, several of which were sent for display at museums in

and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. The first written mention of Dobrá is from 1328, when two strongholds existed in the area, the lower at the site of the modern school on Komenského Square and the upper stronghold (still standing) at the junction of the main roads. The longest ruling owners of the area were the noble families of Kladenský of Kladno (1412–1543) and Žďárský of Žďár (1543–1688). After that, the owners changed frequently. In 1548, Malá Dobrá had eight inhabitants and Velká Dobrá nine inhabitants. The area sustained extensive damage during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

. After 1648, 6 out of 14 farms in Velká Dobrá were abandoned. Gradually, the number of houses and inhabitants increased. After 1700, the former upper defensive stronghold was converted into a granary. In 1929, the

Unhošť Unhošť is a town in Kladno District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, ...

administrative district was abolished and Malá and Velká Dobrá became parts of Kladno District. In 1935, the municipalities of Malá Dobrá and Velká Dobrá were merged.

Demographics

Transport

The D6 motorway runs through the municipality. Kladno Airport is located in the municipality. It is a public domestic civil airport.

Sights

A statue of

John of Nepomuk John of Nepomuk (or John Nepomucene) ( cs, Jan Nepomucký; german: Johannes Nepomuk; la, Ioannes Nepomucenus) ( 1345 – 20 March 1393) was the saint of Bohemia (Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus IV ...

dates from 1753. The Chapel of the Finding of the Holy Cross was built in 1765. In 1816, it was demolished and rebuilt in its current form.

Notable people

Václav Nosek Václav Nosek (26 September 1892 in Velká Dobrá – 22 July 1955 in Prague) was a Czechoslovak Communist politician who served as Minister of the Interior from 4 April 1945 to 14 September 1953. Despite the fact that Nosek never hid his Comm ...

(1892–1955), Communist politician, Minister of the Interior in 1945–1953 *

Tomáš Kaberle Tomáš Kaberle (; born March 2, 1978) is a Czech former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL), most notably for the Toronto Maple Leafs, as well as for the Boston Bruins, with whom he won the Stanley ...

(born 1978), ice hockey player

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Velka Dobra Villages in Kladno District