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Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav (; german: Brandeis-Altbunzlau) is an administratively united pair of towns in
Prague-East District Prague-East District ( cs, okres Praha-východ) is a district (''okres'') within the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. Its administrative seat is in Prague. The most populated town of the district is Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Bole ...
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. Th ...
. It has about 19,000 inhabitants and it is the second largest Czech united pair of towns after
Frýdek-Místek Frýdek-Místek (, pl, Frydek-Mistek; german: Friede(c)k-Mistek) is a city in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 54,000 inhabitants. The historic centres of both Frýdek and Místek are well preserved and are protect ...
. Historic centres of both Brandýs nad Labem and Stará Boleslav are well preserved and are protected by law as urban monument zones.


Administrative parts

The municipality is made up of towns of Brandýs nad Labem and Stará Boleslav and a village of Popovice.


Geography

Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav lies about 25 km northeast from
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 is part of the Prague metropolitan area. It is located in the Central Elbe Table plateau, in the heart of the agricultural region of Polabí. Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav lies upon the
Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Rep ...
river, Brandýs nad Labem on the left bank and Stará Boleslav on the right bank. The Proboštovský Pond lies in the municipal territory.


History

Brandýs nad Labem dates its origin to the 13th century. The town was originally named ''Boleslav'' by Boleslaus I who built here his castle at the beginning of the 10th century. Stará Boleslav is a historical town and the oldest pilgrimage site in Central Bohemia. It was an early
Přemyslid dynasty The Přemyslid dynasty or House of Přemyslid ( cs, Přemyslovci, german: Premysliden, pl, Przemyślidzi) was a Bohemian royal dynasty that reigned in the Duchy of Bohemia and later Kingdom of Bohemia and Margraviate of Moravia (9th century–1 ...
stronghold built in the late 9th and 10th century and surrounded by stone ramparts. Its fame came from a major historical event: the murder of Duke
Wenceslaus Wenceslaus, Wenceslas, Wenzeslaus and Wenzslaus (and other similar names) are Latinized forms of the Czech name Václav. The other language versions of the name are german: Wenzel, pl, Wacław, Więcesław, Wieńczysław, es, Wenceslao, russi ...
by his brother Boleslaus at the gate of St Cosmas and Damian Church on 28 September 935 (or 929). After his death, Wenceslaus was proclaimed a saint by the church and became the patron saint of the Czech nation as well as a symbol of moral reinforcement during hard times. After 1039,
Bretislaus I Bretislav I ( cs, Břetislav I.; 1002/1005 – 10 January 1055), known as the "Bohemian Achilles", of the Přemyslid dynasty, was Duke of Bohemia from 1034 until his death. Youth Bretislav was the son of Duke Oldřich and his low-born concubine ...
established a new Romanesque
basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...
dedicated to St. Wenceslaus (consecrated in 1046 by the Prague
bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...
) at the site of the murder and pilgrimage site. Moreover, Bretislaus I had the Collegiate Chapter of St Cosmas and Damian, the oldest in Bohemia, built next to the basilica in 1052. By the end of the 11th century, the adjoining Romanesque Chapel of Saint Clement was built. It is valuable for its Romanesque frescos from the latter half of the 12th century depicting scenes from St. Clement's life and martyrdom. In 1310 Bohemia fell under the House of Luxemburg and subsequently the Habsburgs. Emperor Charles IV often used to visit the town to hunt in the 14th century, supported the Chapter, and had new ramparts built. 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 Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the ...
starting in 1420 represented the beginning of the town's decline. Most of the buildings, including the Chapter house and the churches, were burned down, and the Chapter fled to
Zittau Zittau ( hsb, Žitawa, dsb, Žytawa, pl, Żytawa, cs, Žitava, Upper Lusatian Dialect: ''Sitte''; from Slavic "''rye''" (Upper Sorbian and Czech: ''žito'', Lower Sorbian: ''žyto'', Polish: ''żyto'')) is the southeasternmost city in the Ger ...
. In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, Boleslav regained its earlier fame through the cult of Madonna. In 1617–1625 the new Baroque Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was built by Jacoppo de Vaccani, containing a relief of the Madonna called the
Palladium Palladium is a chemical element with the symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself nam ...
of the
Czech lands The Czech lands or the Bohemian lands ( cs, České země ) are the three historical regions of Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech Silesia. Together the three have formed the Czech part of Czechoslovakia since 1918, the Czech Socialist Republic sinc ...
. In 1960, the two adjacent towns were joined to form one town of ''Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav'', after both towns refused to give up their names and accept a new one.


Religion

In 2003, the St. Wenceslaus National Pilgrimage to Stará Boleslav was renewed and is now the largest official celebration of St. Wenceslaus Day (28 September, Czech Statehood Day). On this occasion
Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
visited the St. Wenceslaus Basilica and held mass for over 50,000 people who had gathered in Stará Boleslav. According to an article in ''Le Monde'', the town is one of the least religious in all of the Czech Republic, and indeed of all of Europe and the world. Communists tried to repress the Catholic religion from the 1950s to the 1980s, something which continues to have profound effects on contemporary life in the town.


Demographics


Trivia

The name of municipality is the second longest in the country (after Nová Ves u Nového Města na Moravě) with 32 letters and spaces.


Notable people

*
Jan Tesánek Jan Tesánek ( la, Joannis Tessanek) (1728–1788) was a Bohemian scholar and author of scientific literature. Biography Tesánek studied at a gymnasium (school) in Prague and later at Faculty of Philosophy of Charles University. In 1745, he becam ...
(1728–1788), scholar and author of scientific literature *
Karel Šebor Karel Richard Šebor (13 August 1843 – 18 May 1903) was a Czech opera composer. Life He was born in Brandýs nad Labem and raised by his grandfather, a teacher who discovered his musical talent. Šebor attended the Prague Conservatory from ...
(1843–1903), opera composer *
Maria Theresa of Austria Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position '' suo jure'' (in her own right) ...
(1862–1933), archduchess * Leopold Salvator of Austria (1863–1931), archduke and Prince of Tuscany *
Bohumil Honzátko Bohumil Honzátko (30 December 1875 – 12 December 1950) was a Czech gymnast and long-distance runner. He competed for Bohemia at the 1906, 1908 and 1912 Summer Olympics and for Czechoslovakia at the 1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer ...
(1875–1950), gymnast and long-distance runner * Antonín Bečvář (1901–1965), astronomer *
Rudolf Kirs Rudolf Kirs (16 June 1915, Brandýs nad Labem – 8 July 1963 ...
(1915–1963), cellist *
David Novotný David Novotný (born 12 June 1969) is a Czech actor. He has appeared in more than forty films since 1985. Selected filmography References External links * 1969 births Living people Czech male film actors People from Brandýs nad ...
(born 1969), actor * David Rikl (born 1971), tennis player *
Oto Biederman Oto Biederman (born 5 August 1973) is a Czech serial killer and member of the "Kolínský Gang", sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering 5 people. Youth Biederman was born in Brandýs nad Labem in 1973, but his family soon moved to Tlustovo ...
(born 1973), serial killer *
Tomáš Votava Tomáš Votava (born 21 February 1974) is a Czech former footballer who played as a defender. In his native country, he won five league titles with AC Sparta Prague, before moving to TSV 1860 Munich in 1999. His time in Munich was marred by inj ...
(born 1974), footballer * Marek Matějovský (born 1981), footballer *
Ondřej Synek Ondřej Synek (; born 13 October 1982 in Stará Boleslav) is a former Czech rower. He is a five-times World Champion in Single Sculls, winning in 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017. He won Olympic silver medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Bei ...
(born 1982), rower, Olympic medalist *
Michaela Uhrová Michaela Uhrová (born 10 April 1982 in Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav) is a Czech basketball player who competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics and in the 2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of t ...
(born 1982), basketball player * Amálie Hilgertová (born 1997), slalom canoeist


Twin towns – sister cities

Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav is
twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...
with: * Dunaivtsi, Ukraine *
Gödöllő Gödöllő (; german: Getterle; sk, Jedľovo) is a town in Pest County, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary, about northeast from the outskirts of Budapest. Its population is 34,396 according to the 2010 census and is growing rapidly. It can ...
, Hungary * Montescudaio, Italy


Gallery

Stara Boleslav.JPG, Medieval tower in Stará Boleslav Mariánské náměstí.jpg, Centre of Stará Boleslav BazilikasvVaclavasb.jpg, St. Wenceslaus Basilica in Stará Boleslav


References


External links

*
Place of pilgrimage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandys Nad Labem-Stara Boleslav Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Populated places in Prague-East District Populated riverside places in the Czech Republic Populated places on the Elbe