Náměšť nad Oslavou () is a town in

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

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 4,800 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone.

Administrative division

Náměšť nad Oslavou consists of four municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Náměšť nad Oslavou (4,482) *Jedov (71) *Otradice (52) *Zňátky (100)

Geography

Náměšť nad Oslavou is located about east of

Třebíč Třebíč (; ) is a town in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 35,000 inhabitants. The beginnings of the town's history are connected with the establishment of a Benedictines, Benedictine monastery, where the castle is loca ...

and west 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 ...

. The southern part of the municipal territory with most of the built-up area lies in the

Jevišovice Uplands Jevišovice () is a town in Znojmo District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,200 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, urb ...

. The northern part lies in the

Křižanov Highlands The Křižanov Highlands (, ) is a highland and a geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is located mostly in the Vysočina Region. Geomorphology The Křižanov Highlands is a mesoregion of the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands within ...

and includes the highest point of Náměšť nad Oslavou at above sea level. The

Oslava The Oslava is a river in the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Jihlava (river), Jihlava River. It flows through the Vysočina Region, Vysočina and South Moravian Region, South Moravian regions. At , it is the List of rivers of the Czech Rep ...

River flows through the town.

Climate

History

Náměšť was founded around 1220. The first written mention of Náměšť is from 1234, when the castle was owned by the lords of Lomnice. In the 14th and 15th centuries, Náměšť was frequently conquered and destroyed by various armies. In 1304, Náměšť was destroyed by

Cumans The Cumans or Kumans were a Turkic people, Turkic nomadic people from Central Asia comprising the western branch of the Cumania, Cuman–Kipchak confederation who spoke the Cuman language. They are referred to as Polovtsians (''Polovtsy'') in Ru ...

, in 1408 by the army of Lacko of Kravaře, and during 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 ...

by the armies of

Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it ''Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...

and Albert II. From 1481 to 1563, Náměšť was owned by the lords of Lomnice again. In 1563, it was acquired by the

Zierotin The House of Zierotin or House of Žerotín () was a Czech Bohemian nobility, noble family in the Lands of the Bohemian Crown, one of the oldest and most illustrious noble families from Bohemia and Moravia. The ancestors of the family were first m ...

family. Jan the Elder of Zierotin had replaced the old Gothic castle with a new large Renaissance residence. Jan's successor Karl the Elder of Zierotin sold the estate to

Albrecht of Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland (; 24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein (), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Thirty Years' War (1618–16 ...

in 1628, who immediately sold it to the House of Werdenberg. The Werdenberg family owned it until 1733. From 1752 until the abolition of

manorialism Manorialism, also known as seigneurialism, the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "Land tenure, tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features incl ...

, Náměšť was in the possession of the Haugwitz family. The railway was built in 1866. In 1923, Náměšť nad Oslavou was promoted to a town.

Demographics

Transport

The I/23 road (the section from

Rosice Rosice (; ) is a town in Brno-Country District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,800 inhabitants. Geography Rosice is located about southwest of Brno. It lies mostly in the Boskovice Furrow valley. The northweste ...

) passes through the municipality. Náměšť nad Oslavou 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 ...

via Třebíč and

České Budějovice České Budějovice (; ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 97,000 inhabitants. The city is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše. České Budějovice is the largest ...

Culture

Since 1986, the town has been hosting the

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

festival ''Folkové prázdniny'' ("Folk Holidays").

Sights

The town is known for its Baroque bridge. It was built in 1737 and is decorated by twenty sculptures. It has the richest sculptural decoration in

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

and the second richest in the country after the

Charles Bridge Charles Bridge ( , ) is a medieval stone arch bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the early 15th century.; The bridge replaced ...

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 ...

. Náměšť nad Oslavou Castle is the main landmark of the town and a national cultural monument. It is located on a hilltop above the town. It was built in 1572–1579. Today it is open to the public. It includes a castle park with valuable trees. The Church of Saint John the Baptist on the town square was built in 1639. It replaced an old Romanesque structure. The neighbouring complex of the rectory with Chapel of Saint Anne was built in the Baroque style in 1740–1745.

Notable people

František Antonín Míča František Antonín Míča (also Micza or Mitscha; 2 September 1696 – 15 February 1744) was a Czechs, Czech Conducting, conductor, tenor singer and composer. Míča was born in Náměšť nad Oslavou. He conducted many opera performances for roy ...

(1696–1744), conductor and composer * Karel František Koch (1890–1981), physician, known for rescuing Jews during the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

Michael Rabušic Michael Rabušic (born 17 September 1989) is a Czech retired footballer who last played for Slovan Liberec in the Czech First League. Club career FC Slovan Liberec In June 2011, Rabušic together with his Zbrojovka Brno teammate Josef Šural s ...

(born 1989), footballer

Twin towns – sister cities

Náměšť nad Oslavou is twinned with: *

Medzilaborce Medzilaborce (, ''Midzhilabirtsyi''; , ''Mizhlabirtsi''; ) is a List of towns in Slovakia, town in northeastern Slovakia close to the border with Poland, located near the towns of Sanok and Bukowsko (in southeastern Małopolska). Its population is ...

, Slovakia

References

External links

*
Official website of the castle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Namest nad Oslavou Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Populated places in Třebíč District