Town in Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic
Sobotka
(
Czech pronunciation:
[?sobotka]
) is a town in
Ji?in District
in the
Hradec Kralove Region
of the
Czech Republic
. It has about 2,400 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an
urban monument zone
.
Administrative parts
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View of Sobotka from the north
Villages of ?alovice, Kdanice, Lavice, Spy?ova, Sta?kova Lhota, Steblovice, Trni and Zajakury are administrative parts of Sobotka.
Geography
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Sobotka is located about 13 km (8 mi) northwest of
Ji?in
and 62 km (39 mi) northeast of
Prague
. It lies in the
Ji?in Uplands
. The highest point is at 393 m (1,289 ft) above sea level. The northern part of the municipal territory lies in the
Bohemian Paradise
Protected Landscape Area.
History
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The first written mention of Sobotka is from 1322. For centuries, it belonged to the
Kost Castle
estate. In 1498, Sobotka was promoted to a town by
Vladislaus II
. The development of the town was hampered by frequent fires, the biggest ones were in 1710, 1746 and 1825. In 1903, the railway was put into operation, but it did not bring an economic boom to the town.
[2]
Demographics
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Historical population
| Year
| Pop.
| ±%
|
|---|
| 1869
| 3,642
| ?
|
|---|
| 1880
| 3,642
| +0.0%
|
|---|
| 1890
| 3,395
| ?6.8%
|
|---|
| 1900
| 3,381
| ?0.4%
|
|---|
| 1910
| 3,450
| +2.0%
|
|---|
| | Year
| Pop.
| ±%
|
|---|
| 1921
| 3,254
| ?5.7%
|
|---|
| 1930
| 3,098
| ?4.8%
|
|---|
| 1950
| 2,554
| ?17.6%
|
|---|
| 1961
| 2,568
| +0.5%
|
|---|
| 1970
| 2,451
| ?4.6%
|
|---|
| | Year
| Pop.
| ±%
|
|---|
| 1980
| 2,365
| ?3.5%
|
|---|
| 1991
| 2,287
| ?3.3%
|
|---|
| 2001
| 2,289
| +0.1%
|
|---|
| 2011
| 2,413
| +5.4%
|
|---|
| 2021
| 2,300
| ?4.7%
|
|---|
|
| Source: Censuses
[3]
[4]
|
Culture
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Since 1957, Sobotka hosts an annual festival of Czech language, speech and literature called
?ramkova Sobotka
. The festival is named after the most famous local native, writer
Fra?a ?ramek
.
[5]
Sights
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Humprecht Castle
The most valuable building is the Humprecht Castle, a national cultural monument. It was built for
Humprecht Jan Czernin
by Italian architect
Carlo Lurago
in 1666?1668, as a summer house and hunting castle. It has atypical elliptical shape of its floor plan. In 1678, it was damaged by a fire, and in 1680, it was repaired and increased by one floor. Its appearance has not changed since then.
[6]
The historic centre is formed by Miru Square. It is known for preserved burgher houses and former town hall. Behind the square there is the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene. It was built in the late Gothic style in 1590?1596 and replaced an old wooden church from the 14th century. It has late Baroque interiors.
[7]
There are several preserved buildings of folk architecture in the town. The most notable is ?olc Farmhouse from 1811.
[7]
Notable people
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Twin towns ? sister cities
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Sobotka is
twinned
with:
[8]
Gallery
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References
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External links
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]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Sobotka
.