Zápy is a market town in

Prague-East District Prague-East District () is a Okres, district in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is Prague. The most populated town of the district is Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav. Administrative division Prague-East District i ...

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 900 inhabitants.

Etymology

The name Zápy has a pre-Slavic origin and its meaning is unclear. It may be derived from the Illyrian word ''sapua'' ('suddenly'), associated with the

Old Russian Old East Slavic (traditionally also Old Russian) was a language (or a group of dialects) used by the East Slavs from the 7th or 8th century to the 13th or 14th century, until it diverged into the Russian and Ruthenian languages. Ruthenian even ...

words ''zapa, zaapa'' ('expectation', 'hope'), associated with the grass species ''

Phlomoides tuberosa ''Phlomoides tuberosa'' (synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Phlomis tuberosa''), the sage-leaf mullein, is a perennial plant, perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae, native to China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia, south w ...

'' (''sápa hlíznatá'' in modern Czech) or associated with the expression that is used in Slavic languages for 'to shout loudly' (''zípati'' in old Czech).

Geography

Zápy is located about northeast 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 the

Central Elbe Table The Central Elbe Table () is a plateau and a geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is located mostly in the Central Bohemian Region, but due to its size, it also extends to other regions. The axis of the plateau is the Elbe River, ...

, in a flat agricultural landscape of the

Polabí Polabí () is the traditional and informal name for a lowland region located mainly in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. Etymology The name comes from Czech ''po Labi'', meaning "along the Elbe". The same linguistic construction g ...

region. The

Elbe The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) 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 Republic), then Ge ...

River briefly forms the northern municipal border.

History

The first written mention of Zápy is from 1052. It was first referred to as 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 ...

in 1543. From 1964 to 1990, it was an administrative part of

Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav Brandýs nad Labem-Stará Boleslav (; and ''Altbunzlau'') is an administratively united pair of towns in Prague-East District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants and it is the second largest Czech ...

. Since 1990, it has been a separate municipality.

Demographics

Transport

The D10 motorway from Prague to

Turnov Turnov (; ) is a town in Semily District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 15,000 inhabitants. It is a traditional centre for gemstone polishing, glass craftsmanship and arts. The historic town centre is well preserved and ...

runs through the municipal territory.

Sport

Zápy is home to a football club

SK Zápy SK Zápy is a Czech football club located in the market town of Zápy in the Central Bohemian Region. It currently plays in the Bohemian Football League. The club won a double in the 2010–11 season, winning the Regional Championship (fifth-tier ...

, which plays in the

Bohemian Football League 3rd Bohemian Football League (; ČFL) is one of the third level football leagues of the Czech Republic (the other is the Moravian-Silesian Football League). The league comprises teams from the historic Bohemia region. History The league was forme ...

(third tier of the Czech football system). Zápy is the least populated Czech municipality with a football club on such as level.

Sights

The main landmark of Zápy is the Church of Saint James the Great. It was built in the Baroque style in the 18th century, probably according to the design by

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 ...

. Next to the church is a separate Renaissance bell tower. A cultural monument is the ruin of the former Gothic fortress. Only the cellars, the torso of the palace and a fragment of the tower have survived to this day.

Notable people

Záviš of Zápy Záviš of Zápy (; – ) was a Czech theologian and composer. Life Záviš was born in in Zápy. He received a Baccalaureate from Charles University in Prague in 1379, and became a professor there in 1391. He also studied laws in Rome and Pa ...

( – ), theologian and composer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zapy Populated places in Prague-East District Market towns in the Czech Republic