Dobřichovice is a town in

Prague-West District Prague-West District () is a district in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is Prague. The most populated town of the district is Jesenice. Administrative division Prague-West District is formed by only one administ ...

in the

Central Bohemian Region The Central Bohemian Region ( ; ) is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the central part of its historical region of Bohemia. Its administrative centre is in the Czech capital Prague, which lies in the centre of the regio ...

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 3,800 inhabitants.

Etymology

The initial name of the settlement was Dobrchovice. The name was derived from the personal name Dobrch, meaning "the village of Dobrch's people". Already in the 13th century, it was distored to Dobřichovice.

Geography

Dobřichovice is located about southwest 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 ...

. The northern part of the municipal territory is located in the

Hořovice Uplands Hořovice (; ) is a town in Beroun District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,100 inhabitants. The town is known for the Hořovice Castle. Geography Hořovice is located about southwest of Beroun and southwest ...

, the southern part in the Brdy Highlands. The highest point is the Dobřich hill at above sea level. The town lies on both banks of the

Berounka The Berounka () is a river in the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Vltava River. It flows through the Plzeň Region, Plzeň and Central Bohemian Region, Central Bohemian regions to Prague. It is formed by the confluence of the Mže and Radbu ...

River.

Climate

The town recorded the highest temperature ever in the Czech Republic on 20 August 2012, with the heat registering .

History

The first written mention of Dobřichovice is from 6 April 1253, when it was donated to Knights of the Cross with the Red Star. With short breaks it was owned by this order throughout its existence. Dobřichovice Castle was built in the 16th century and rebuilt after a fire in 1779. Due to its location, Dobřichovice often suffers from floods, the most destructive of which were in 1872, 1941 and 1947. Dobřichovice was also affected by

2002 European floods In August 2002, a week of intense rainfall produced flooding across a large portion of Europe. It reached the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ukraine and Russia. The event killed 2 ...

and more than 200 houses were severely damaged up to the ground floor. The flood also destroyed a 30-year-old footbridge which has since been replaced by a new one. In 1876, Dobřichovice was promoted to 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 ...

. Dobřichovice was proclaimed a town in 2006.

Demographics

Transport

Dobřichovice is located on the railway line Prague–

Beroun Beroun (; ) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 22,000 inhabitants. It lies at the confluence of the Berounka and Litavka rivers. Beroun creates a conurbation with Králův Dvůr, former part of Beroun. ...

Sights

The Dobřichovice Castle retains its Baroque appearance from the 18th century. The castle Chapel of Saint Jude the Apostle next to the castle was built in 1679. Until 1948, the castle served as a summer residence of the grand masters of Knights of the Cross with the Red Star. Today it is owned again by the order and inaccessible to the public. An architectural monument is the Villa Pellé. It was built in the Neoclassical style in 1882–1883. Among the owners of the village were General Maurice Pellé and the painter Zdenka Braunerová, who decorated the house with a wall painting with folk Moravian Slovak motifs.

Notable people

* Ota Kroutil (1921–1997), sprint canoer *

Ludvík Vaculík Ludvík Vaculík (23 July 1926 – 6 June 2015) was a Czech writer and journalist. He was born in Brumov, Moravian Wallachia. A prominent samizdat writer, he was best known as the author of the " Two Thousand Words" manifesto of June 1968 ...

(1926–2015), writer; lived and died here * Lenka Kotková (born 1973), astronomer * Zuzana Čížková (born 1982), painter and sculptor; lives and works here

Twin towns – sister cities

Dobřichovice is twinned with: *

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, United States * Villieu-Loyes-Mollon, France

Gallery

Dobrichovice_skola_2022_201379a.jpg, Primary school Dobřichovická lávka.jpg, Prof. Karel Lewit's Footbridge over the Berounka Dobřichovice - svatý Jan Nepomucký.jpg, Statue of St. John of Nepomuk at the castle Dobrichovice silnice.jpg, 5. května Street Dobřichovice-Brunšov 195, vila generála Pellé.jpg, Villa No. 105 (Pellé Villa)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dobrichovice Populated places in Prague-West District Cities and towns in the Czech Republic