Rudná 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 5,500 inhabitants.

Etymology

After the municipality was established in 1951, it got its name derived from the Czech word ''ruda'' (i.e. 'ore'), which commemorates a long history of

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

mining in the region. The name was invented by children at a local school, as many of their parents and grandparents worked in the local iron ore mines.

Geography

Rudná is located about west 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 a flat agricultural landscape of the

Prague Plateau The Prague Plateau () is a plateau and a geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is located in the area of Prague and in the Central Bohemian Region. Geomorphology The Prague Plateau is a mesoregion of the Brdy Macroregion within ...

. The highest point is at above sea level. The stream Radotínský potok flows through the town.

History

Two villages, Hořelice and Dušníky, were originally located in the area of today's Rudná. The first written mention of Hořelice was in 1052. Dušníky was first mentioned in 1228, when both villages were property of

St. George's Convent St. George's Convent () was a community of Benedictines, Benedictine nuns located in Prague Castle in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) between 973 and 1782. Founded in 973, the abbey was next to the seat of ecclesiastical and state power in Bohe ...

in Prague. While Hořelice was owned by various lower nobles from the 15th century, Dušníky was mainly church property and for the longest time it was owned by the Metropolitan Chapter at Saint Vitus in Prague. In the 1860s, mining of iron ore began in the area. In 1936, both Dušníky and Hořelice were promoted to

market towns A market town is a Human settlement, 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 marketplace, market; this distinguished it from a village or ...

. They continued to develop and they gradually created one urban unit. In 1951, Dušníky and Hořelice merged into a new municipality under the newly created name Rudná. Rudná was promoted to a town in 2000.

Demographics

Transport

Rudná is located along an old second-class road from Prague to

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. ...

and

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 ...

. Nowadays the parallel D5 motorway runs just north of the town. Rudná is located on the railway line Prague–Beroun. The town is served by two train stations called ''Rudná u Prahy'' and ''Rudná zastávka''.

Sights

The Church of the Beheading of Saint John the Baptist is a valuable Baroque church, probably built according to the plans of

Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer (; 1 September 1689 – 18 December 1751) was a German Bohemians, German Bohemian architect of the Baroque architecture, Baroque era. He is among the most prolific and renowned architects of his era in Bohemia. He was bo ...

. The Church of Saint George is a neo-Gothic church from the beginning of the 20th century. It replaced an old dilapidated Baroque church. The Hořelice Castle is belongs to the landmarks of Rudná. Today this Baroque castle is privately owned and inaccessible.

Notable people

* Radek Šírl (born 1981), footballer

References

External links

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