Žatec (; ) is a town in

Louny District Louny District () is a Okres, district in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Louny, but the most populated town is Žatec. Administrative division Louny District is divided into three Districts of the Cze ...

in the

Ústí nad Labem Region Ústí nad Labem Region or Ústecký Region () is an Regions of the Czech Republic, administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the north-western part of the historical land of Bohemia, and named after the capital, Ústí nad Labem. I ...

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 19,000 inhabitants. It lies on the

Ohře The Ohře (), also known in English and German as Eger (), is a river in Germany and the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Elbe River. It flows through the Bavarian district of Upper Franconia in Germany, and through the Karlovy Vary Region ...

River. Žatec is famous for an over-700-year-long tradition of growing Saaz noble hops used by several breweries. Žatec and the Landscape of Saaz Hops was included in the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

in 2023. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation and partly also as an urban monument zone.

Administrative division

Žatec consists of seven municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Žatec (17,729) *Bezděkov (338) *Milčeves (97) *Radíčeves (141) *Trnovany (26) *Velichov (86) *Záhoří (50)

Etymology

The name Žatec is derived from the Old Czech word ''záteč / zateč''. It was a designation for a place on a river where ice accumulates in a narrowed channel.

Geography

Žatec is located about west of

Louny Louny (; ) is a town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 18,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Ohře River. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument ...

and northwest of

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. It lies in an agricultural landscape in the Most Basin. The highest point is at above sea level. The

River flows through the town. The Liboc River joins the Ohře on the western outskirts of the town. The Blšanka River flows through the Trnovany part of Žatec and then joins the Ohře just outside the territory of Žatec.

Climate

Žatec's climate is classified as

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Cfb''; Trewartha: ''Dobk''). Among them, the annual average temperature is , the hottest month in July is , and the coldest month is in January. The annual precipitation is , of which July is the wettest with , while February is the driest with only . The extreme temperature throughout the year ranged from on 11 February 1929 to on 20 August 2012.

History

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

, the first chain bridge in

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

, was built. From the outbreak of the

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, a ...

in 1419 to the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, the town was

Hussite file:Hussitenkriege.tif, upright=1.2, Battle between Hussites (left) and Crusades#Campaigns against heretics and schismatics, Catholic crusaders in the 15th century file:The Bohemian Realm during the Hussite Wars.png, upright=1.2, The Lands of the ...

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, but after the

Battle of White Mountain The Battle of White Mountain (; ) was an important battle in the early stages of the Thirty Years' War. It led to the defeat of the Bohemian Revolt and ensured Habsburg control for the next three hundred years. It was fought on 8 November 16 ...

(1620) the greater part of the Czech inhabitants left the town. It remained an ethnically German town until 1945, when the Germans were expelled. On 3 June 1945, 5,000 male Sudeten German inhabitants from Žatec were marched to the town square of Postoloprty, and at least 763 were murdered. Estimates range up to 2,000 victims killed by Czechoslovak military on the march, in Postoloprty, and in Žatec on and after the march.

Demographics

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 protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main purpose is to designat ...

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

Transport

Žatec is located on the railway line

Plzeň Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...

– Most. The town is served by two train stations: ''Žatec'' and ''Žatec západ''.

Culture

Žatec hosts ''Dočesná'', a hops-related harvest festival. It takes place on the town square every September.

Education

Žatec is home to three secondary schools: Žatec Gymnasium, Business Academy and Secondary Vocational School of Agriculture and Ecology, and Secondary Vocational School SČMSD (focused on the hotel industry and gastronomy). There are six primary schools and a primary art school.

Sport

Žatec is represented by the football club FK Slavoj Žatec, playing in lower amateur tiers. It was founded in 1936. The main sports facility is the Mládí Stadium. It was founded in 1965. The Flora Stadium is a sports facility in the south of the town. It was founded between 1924 and 1938. Until 1960, it had a

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

track at the site.

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. The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is one of the most significant monuments. It was originally built in the 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 in 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 An astronomical clock, horologium, or orloj is a clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information, such as the relative positions of the Sun, Moon, zodiacal constellations, and sometimes major planets. Definition ...

. Žatec and the Landscape of Saaz Hops (which includes the village of Trnovany within Žatec and the village of Stekník) was included in the

in 2023. Retro Computer in Žatec is a permanent exhibition of

home computer Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a s ...

s from the 1970s to the 1990s. It is a private collection of over 135 pieces of functional technology.

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 ''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'' (sometimes referred to as ''Young Indy'') is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 4, 1992, to July 24, 1993. Filming took place in various locations around the world, with "Old Indy" ...

'' (1992), ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...

'' (1998), ''

The Scarlet Pimpernel ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with her husband Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in Lo ...

'' (1999), ''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and as a three-volume book in 1838. The story follows the titular orphan, who, ...

'' (1999), ''

Burning Bush The burning bush (or the unburnt bush) refers to an event recorded in the Jewish Torah (as also in the biblical Old Testament and Islamic scripture). It is described in the third chapter of the Book of Exodus as having occurred on Mount Horeb ...

'' (2013), '' The Zookeeper's Wife'' (2016), '' A Bag of Marbles'' (2017) and

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-winning ''

Jojo Rabbit ''Jojo Rabbit'' is a 2019 political satire, satirical drama film written and directed by Taika Waititi, adapted from Christine Leunens's 2008 book ''Caging Skies''. Roman Griffin Davis portrays the title character, Johannes "Jojo" Betzler, a te ...

(2019)''.

Notable people

* Johannes von Tepl ( – ), writer *

Eugen Gura Eugen Gura (8 November 184226 August 1906) was a German operatic baritone. Life Gura was born in Nové Sedlo, Louny District, Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic). He was at first educated for the career of a painter at Vienna and Munich; bu ...

(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 Zdeněk Svěrák (born 28 March 1936) is a Czech actor, humorist, playwright and scriptwriter, and one of the most well-known and popular Czech cultural personalities. Since 1968 he has appeared in 32 films. Career In 1958, he graduated in Czec ...

(born 1936), actor, humorist and scriptwriter * Miroslav Varga (born 1960), sports shooter, Olympic winner *

Jan Svěrák Jan Svěrák (; born 6 February 1965) is a Czechs, Czech film director and screenwriter. He is the son of screenwriter and actor Zdeněk Svěrák, with whom he collaborated on his most successful films. He is among the most recognized Czech filmm ...

(born 1965), film director * Jaromír Zmrhal (born 1993), footballer

Twin towns – sister cities

Žatec is twinned with: *

Krasnystaw Krasnystaw is a town in southeastern Poland with 18,630 inhabitants (31 December 2019). It is the capital of Krasnystaw County in the Lublin Voivodeship. The town is famous for its beer festival called ''Chmielaki'' ( means hops, hop), and for i ...

, Poland * Poperinge, Belgium * Thum, Germany * Žalec, Slovenia

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zatec Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Populated places in Louny District World Heritage Sites in the Czech Republic