Štěpánov nad Svratkou (until 1951 Štěpánov; ) is a market town in

Žďár nad Sázavou District Žďár nad Sázavou District () is a Okres, district in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Žďár nad Sázavou. Administrative division Žďár nad Sázavou District is divided into four Districts of the Czech ...

in the

Vysočina Region The Vysočina Region (; ) is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic. Its capital is Jihlava. The region is located in the central part of the country. It is one of just three in the country (the others being Prague and the Central Boh ...

of the

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

. It has about 700 inhabitants.

Administrative division

Štěpánov nad Svratkou consists of two municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Štěpánov nad Svratkou (646) *Vrtěžíř (48)

Geography

Štěpánov nad Svratkou is located about east of

Žďár nad Sázavou Žďár nad Sázavou (; ) is a town in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. The town is an industrial and tourist centre. It is known for the Pilgrimage Church of Saint John of Nepomuk, which is a UNESCO Wor ...

and northwest of

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

. It lies in the

Upper Svratka Highlands The Upper Svratka Highlands (, ) is a mountain range in Moravia, Czech Republic. The Highlands, together with the Křižanov Highlands threshold, form the Western-Moravian part of Moldanubian Zone – east south part of Bohemian Massif. Geogra ...

. The highest point is at above sea level. The built-up area is situated in the valley of the Svratka River and its tributary, the Hodonínka Stream.

History

The first written mention of Štěpánov is in a deed of Bishop Dětřich from 1285. The village was founded by Štěpán of Medlov between 1234 and 1256. Silver, copper and iron ore were mined in the area from the 13th century and Štěpánov became an industrial centre of the estate. It was first referred to as 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 rura ...

in 1551, but it was not officially promoted to a market town until sometime between 1561 and 1584. During the 18th century, mining has stopped. In 1951, Štěpánov was merged with the neighbouring municipality of Olešnička (today an integral part of Štěpánov) and the name of the settlement and the municipality was changed to Štěpánov nad Svratkou.

Demographics

Transport

The I/19 road (the section from

Blansko District Blansko District () is a Okres, district in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Blansko. Administrative division Blansko District is divided into two Districts of the Czech Republic#Municipalities with exten ...

) passes through the market town.

Sights

The main landmark of Štěpánov nad Svratkou is the Church of Saints Peter and Paul. The original medieval church from the second half of the 13th century was destroyed by a fire in 1917. The current church was built in the

Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

style in 1923–1924. Among the protected cultural monuments in the municipality are an architecturally valuable rectory, a cast iron cross from 1761 and a Baroque statue of St. John of Nepomuk from 1896.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stepanov Nad Svratkou Populated places in Žďár nad Sázavou District Market towns in the Czech Republic