Žatec

Žatec (; german: Saaz) is a town in Louny District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 19,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Ohře river. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation and partly as an urban monument zone.

Žatec is famous for an over-700-year-long tradition of growing Saaz noble hops used by several breweries.

Administrative parts

Villages of Bezděkov, Milčeves, Radíčeves, Trnovany, Velichov and Záhoří are administrative parts of Žatec.

History

The first written mention of Žatec is in the Latin chronicle of Thietmar of Merseburg of 1004. In 1248, Žatec is firstly titled as a town. In 1265, it received the privileges of a royal town from King Ottokar II of Bohemia.

In the 16th century, Žatec had around 5,000 inhabitants and was one of the most populous towns in the kingdom. In 1827, a chain bridge over the Ohře, the first chain bridge in Bohemia, was built.

From the outbreak of the Hussite Wars in 1419 to the Thirty Years' War, the town was Hussite or Protestant, but after the Battle of White Mountain (1620) the greater part of the Czech inhabitants left the town. It remained German and Roman Catholic until 1945, when the German speaking inhabitants were expelled to Germany. On 3 June 1945, about 5,000 German inhabitants were gathered on the Market place and marched to Postoloprty, where at least 763 were murdered in the Postoloprty massacre, estimates range up to 2,000 victims killed by Czechoslovak military in Žatec and on the March.

Demography

Economy

Žatec and its surroundings is known for its tradition of growing Saaz hops. Saaz hops or Žatec hops is a protected designation of origin.

The tradition of beer brewing started here in 1261, growing of hops is first documented in 1348. In 1800–1801, Žatec brewery started its production, which continues to this day.

Culture

Žatec hosts ''Dočesná'', its hops-related harvest festival every September on the town square.

Sights

Since 1961, the historic core of Žatec has been protected as an urban monument reservation. It is a collection of important buildings and architectural styles from the Romanesque period to the Art Nouveau.

Since 2003, the area south of the historic centre has been protected as an urban monument zone. It is valuable mainly for its technical constructions related to hop growing.

Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is one of the most significant monuments. it was originally built in Romanesque style and some of its Romanesque parts are still preserved. In 1724–1728, the Chapel of Saint John of Nepomuk was added. Around 1740, the west façade was reconstructed into the Baroque style.

The hop-growing and brewing tradition is widely presented by the town. There are Hop Museum and Brewing Museum. The Temple of Hops and Beer is a tourist complex with several attractions, including a lookout tower and a small astronomical clock.

In popular culture

Žatec was used as a filming location for many historical films and TV series, including '' Yentl'' (1983), ''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'' (1992), ''Les Misérables'' (1998), The Scarlet Pimpernel (1999), '' Oliver Twist'' (1999), ''Burning Bush'' (2013), '' The Zookeeper's Wife'' (2016), and Oscar-winning ''Jojo Rabbit (2018)''.

Notable people

*Johannes von Tepl (c. 1350 – c. 1415), writer
*Eugen Gura (1842–1906), German operatic baritone
*Gabriel Anton (1858–1933), Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist
* Adolf Strauss (1902–1944), pianist and composer
* Maria Treben (1907–1991), Austrian author and herbalist
* Karel Reiner (1910–1979), composer and pianist
*Peter Glaser (1923–2014), Czech-American scientist and aerospace engineer
*Zdeněk Svěrák (born 1936), actor, humorist and scriptwriter
* Miroslav Varga (born 1960), sports shooter, Olympic winner
*Jan Svěrák (born 1965), film director

Twin towns – sister cities

Žatec is twinned with:
* Krasnystaw, Poland
* Poperinge, Belgium
* Thum, Germany
* Žalec, Slovenia

References

External links

*
Friends of Saaz/ Žatec
(in German and English)
UNESCO on Žatec – the Hops Town
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zatec
Cities and towns in the Czech Republic
Populated places in Louny District