Our republic, our town

The Czech Republic is a state in Central Europe. It comes into existence with the beginning of January 1993 when Czechoslovakia split in two republics – the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. It occupies an area of about 79,000 sq kms and its populations is around 10 millions people. It borders with Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Austria. The […]

The Czech Republic is a state in Central Europe. It comes into existence with the beginning of January 1993 when Czechoslovakia split in two republics – the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic.

It occupies an area of about 79,000 sq kms and its populations is around 10 millions people. It borders with Germany, Poland, Slovakia and Austria. The major nationalities living here are Czech and Moravian, but there are minority groups such as the Silesians, the Roms, the Poles, the Germans, the Russians etc.

The President of Czech Republic is a world famous playwright Václav Havel. He was elected in after the “velvet revolution” in November 1989.

The Czech Republic is an industrial country. The most important part of our economy is engineering. Other important branches are metallurgical and chemical industries, tourism, textile, glass industries, cut glass, china and food production. The main items of our agriculture are wheat, maize, sugar-beet, grapes, hops and fruit. In animal production, cattle-breeding and pig-breeding are the most important. Fish breeding, especially carp-breeding has a long tradition in South Bohemia ponds.

The borders are mostly made by mountains: Šumava, Český les, , Jizerské hory, Krkonoše, Orlické hory, Jeseníky and Beskydy. Bohemia is separated from Moravia by the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands. Fertile lowland can be found in the vales of big rivers, e.g. the Vltava, the Elbe, and the Morava.

In the Czech Republic there are many spots of great natural beauty as well as areas totally spoiled by industries (e.g. the Most area). Among most beautiful natural places belong: the Czech Paradise, “rock town” in Prachov rocks, the Děčín walls, Macocha abyss, the Jeseník mountains etc. The most beautiful historic towns are: e.g. Prague, Kutná Hora, Tábor, Olomouc, Třeboň. Visitors can walk around preserved old castles or ruins such as Karlštejn, Křivoklát, Konopiště, Bezděz etc.

Bohemia and Moravia are quite rich in mineral springs and spas (Karlovy Vary, Mariánské Lázně, Františkovy lázně, Luhačovice, Jeseník etc.)..

One of the best and most important rulers was Charles IV, who ruled in the 14th century. During his reign the Prague University was founded, Prague New Town was built and the economy developed (gothic style).

In the Czech Republic is a birthplace of many famous writers e.g. Němcová, Mácha, Neruda, Jirásek, Čapek, Hrabal, etc., and composers e.g. Janáček, Dvořák, Smetana, etc.

PRAGUE

Prague is the capital of the Czech Republic and lies in the middle of Bohemia. Its population is about 1.3 million people. The historical centre is made up by the Old Town, Josefov, the Lesser Quarter, Hradčany, the New Town and Vyšehrad.

In Prague we can find many beautiful and famous historical sights: the National Museum, the National Gallery, the National Theatre, the Prague Castle, the Strahov Monastery and Petřín, Old Town Square, Vyšehrad, the Charles Bridge, the Powder Tower, the Carolinum, the Clementinum, Wenceslas Square etc.

OPAVA

Opava is one of the oldest town in Czech Republic (exists more than 750 years). The district of Opava is situated on the Opava River, near to Ostrava and to the Polish border.

Now in Opava live about 70 thousand of people. The city has textiles, food, chemical, pharmaceutical industries, a slaughterhouse, a sugar mill, an engineering enterprise “Ostroj”, a soft drinks company, a brewery and a frozen food factory.

Opava is centre of cultural life in region. In Opava we can find: Silesian Museum, which is one of the oldest museums in the Czech Republic, Silesian Theatre, the House of Arts, two cinemas and many churches such as: Chapel of the Holy Cross in Kateřinky, The Church of the Virgin Mary’s Assumption, The Minorite Monastery, Church of Holy Spirit, and the Church of St. Albert in the Lower Square.

The central square of the city is Upper Square, where we can found the Town Hall, which possesses the famous Watch Tower.

Opava is city of some famous people. In Opava studied Johan Gregor Mendel, and it is birthplace of Czech poet Petr Bezruč. With his name is linked the name of one Opava´s building: Bezruč Culture House with Opava´s Library of Petr Bezruč.

There are also many possibilities of sports activities in Opava (football and hockey stadium, indoor and outdoor swimming pools etc.