Nová Cerekev () is a market town in

Pelhřimov District Pelhřimov District () is a district in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Pelhřimov. Administrative division Pelhřimov District is divided into three administrative districts of municipalities with extended ...

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 1,200 inhabitants.

Administrative division

Nová Cerekev consists of seven municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Nová Cerekev (720) *Částkovice (84) *Chmelná (31) *Markvarec (53) *Myslov (24) *Proseč-Obořiště (185) *Stanovice (55)

Etymology

The name Cerekev is derived from ''cierkev'', which is an old Czech term for a wooden church. The attribute ''nová'' ('new') was added to distinguish it from Dolní Cerekev and

Horní Cerekev Horní Cerekev () is a town in Pelhřimov District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,900 inhabitants. Administrative division Horní Cerekev consists of five municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 ...

and suggests that the settlement was founded after these two.

Geography

Nová Cerekev is located about west of

Pelhřimov Pelhřimov () is a town in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument reservations, urban monument reser ...

and west of

Jihlava Jihlava (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 55,000 inhabitants. Jihlava is the capital of the Vysočina Region, situated on the Jihlava (river), Jihlava River on the historical border between Moravia and Bohemia. Historically, Jihla ...

. It lies in the

Křemešník Highlands The Křemešník Highlands () are highlands and a geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is located mainly in the Vysočina Region, but it also extends into the South Bohemian and Central Bohemian regions. With an area of , it i ...

. The highest point is at above sea level. The stream Cerekvický potok flows through the market town. A notable body of water is the fishpond Hejlovský rybník, located near the village of Částkovice. It has an area of .

History

The first written mention of Nová Cerekev is from 1330. Nová Cerekev had a Jewish population. The first Jews appeared in Nová Cerekev in 1570. The Jewish community was established around 1690. The first synagogue was built at the beginning of the 18th century. The population of Jews reached its peak in 1895, when there were 109 of them. But since then, their number was decreasing, and before World War II there were only 20 Jews.

Demographics

Transport

The I/19 road (the section from

Tábor Tábor (; ) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants, making it the second most populated town in the region. The town was founded by the Hussites in 1420. The historic town centre is well pres ...

) runs along the northern municipal border. Nová Cerekev is located on the railway line Jihlava–Tábor.

Sights

Among the main landmarks of Nová Cerekev is the Church of Saint Thomas Becket. It was built in the Baroque style in 1750–1760. It was built on the site of an old Gothic church, from which the tower has been preserved. The synagogue is a large building, which is among the most notable Jewish monuments in the region. It was built in 1855, when it replaced an older wooden synagogue. It was built in the Neo-Romanesque style, imitating Assyrian-Babylonian architecture, and is the only one of its kind in Central Europe. Today the building is owned by the Jewish Community of Prague and houses a permanent exhibition focused on the architecture of synagogues in the

Czech lands The Czech lands or the Bohemian lands (, ) is a historical-geographical term which denotes the three historical regions of Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech Silesia out of which Czechoslovakia, and later the Czech Republic and Slovakia, were formed. ...

. The Old Jewish Cemetery from the 17th century and the New Jewish Cemetery, founded in 1866, also belong to the synagogue. The oldest preserved tombstone dates from 1692. The Nová Cerekev Castle is a Baroque building, created by reconstruction of a Renaissance fortress. Today it serves as a retirement home.

Notable people

* Alfréd Justitz (1879–1934), painter and illustrator * Otto Šling (1912–1952), communist politician

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nova Cerekev Populated places in Pelhřimov District Market towns in the Czech Republic Jewish communities in the Czech Republic