Žatec | |
|---|---|
 Svobody Square with town hall and Holy Trinity Column | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Žatec Location in the Czech Republic | |
| Coordinates:50°19′48″N13°32′40″E / 50.33000°N 13.54444°E /50.33000; 13.54444 | |
| Country |  Czech Republic |
| Region | Ústí nad Labem |
| District | Louny |
| First mentioned | 1004 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Radim Laibl |
| Area | |
• Total | 42.68 km2 (16.48 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 233 m (764 ft) |
| Population (2024-01-01)[1] | |
• Total | 19,046 |
| • Density | 450/km2 (1,200/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Postal code | 438 01 |
| Website | www |
| Official name | Žatec and the Landscape of Saaz Hops |
| Criteria | Cultural: (iii), (iv), (v) |
| Designated | 2023(45thsession) |
| Reference no. | 1558-002 |
Žatec (Czech pronunciation:[ˈʒa.tɛt͡s];German:Saaz) is a town inLouny District in theÚstí nad Labem Region of theCzech Republic. It has about 19,000 inhabitants. It lies on theOhře river. Žatec is famous for an over-700-year-long tradition of growingSaaz noble hops used by several breweries. Žatec and the Landscape of Saaz Hops was included in theUNESCOWorld Heritage List in 2023. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as anurban monument reservation and partly also as anurban monument zone.
Žatec consists of seven municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census):[2]
The name Žatec is derived from the Old Czech wordzáteč / zateč. It was a designation for a place on a river where ice accumulates in a narrowed channel.[3]
Žatec is located about 18 kilometres (11 mi) west ofLouny and 62 km (39 mi) northwest ofPrague. It lies in an agricultural landscape in theMost Basin. The highest point is at 337 m (1,106 ft) above sea level. TheOhře River flows through the town. TheLiboc River joins the Ohře on the western outskirts of the town. TheBlšanka River flows through the Trnovany part of Žatec and then joins the Ohře just outside the territory of Žatec.
Žatec's climate is classified asoceanic climate (Köppen:Cfb;Trewartha:Dobk). Among them, the annual average temperature is 9.5 °C (49.1 °F), the hottest month in July is 19.6 °C (67.3 °F), and the coldest month is 0.1 °C (32.2 °F) in January. The annual precipitation is 475.8 millimetres (18.73 in), of which July is the wettest with 69.9 millimetres (2.75 in), while February is the driest with only 17.8 millimetres (0.70 in). The extreme temperature throughout the year ranged from −31.2 °C (−24.2 °F) on 11 February 1929 to 38.9 °C (102.0 °F) on 20 August 2012.[4]
| Climate data for Žatec, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1897–present | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 17.2 (63.0) | 20.5 (68.9) | 24.6 (76.3) | 30.6 (87.1) | 34.5 (94.1) | 37.3 (99.1) | 38.3 (100.9) | 38.9 (102.0) | 34.5 (94.1) | 27.7 (81.9) | 20.2 (68.4) | 17.5 (63.5) | 38.9 (102.0) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 2.9 (37.2) | 5.1 (41.2) | 10.0 (50.0) | 16.4 (61.5) | 20.8 (69.4) | 24.0 (75.2) | 26.2 (79.2) | 26.0 (78.8) | 20.6 (69.1) | 13.9 (57.0) | 7.4 (45.3) | 3.6 (38.5) | 14.8 (58.6) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 0.1 (32.2) | 1.0 (33.8) | 4.6 (40.3) | 9.7 (49.5) | 14.4 (57.9) | 17.8 (64.0) | 19.6 (67.3) | 18.8 (65.8) | 13.9 (57.0) | 8.9 (48.0) | 4.4 (39.9) | 1.0 (33.8) | 9.5 (49.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −2.8 (27.0) | −2.6 (27.3) | 0.0 (32.0) | 3.0 (37.4) | 7.5 (45.5) | 11.2 (52.2) | 12.9 (55.2) | 12.3 (54.1) | 8.5 (47.3) | 4.7 (40.5) | 1.5 (34.7) | −1.7 (28.9) | 4.5 (40.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −25.1 (−13.2) | −31.2 (−24.2) | −25.1 (−13.2) | −9.5 (14.9) | −3.8 (25.2) | 0.5 (32.9) | 3.5 (38.3) | 2.6 (36.7) | −4.5 (23.9) | −8.5 (16.7) | −14.5 (5.9) | −26.5 (−15.7) | −31.2 (−24.2) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 20.1 (0.79) | 17.8 (0.70) | 25.6 (1.01) | 28.5 (1.12) | 53.0 (2.09) | 65.4 (2.57) | 69.9 (2.75) | 67.3 (2.65) | 42.2 (1.66) | 30.5 (1.20) | 28.9 (1.14) | 26.6 (1.05) | 475.8 (18.73) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 11.7 (4.6) | 9.0 (3.5) | 4.2 (1.7) | 0.4 (0.2) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 1.9 (0.7) | 7.8 (3.1) | 35.0 (13.8) |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 82.0 | 77.9 | 72.9 | 66.0 | 67.1 | 68.1 | 67.4 | 70.8 | 77.2 | 82.0 | 85.3 | 84.5 | 75.1 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 38.8 | 71.5 | 120.6 | 184.2 | 212.9 | 216.3 | 230.7 | 222.9 | 157.5 | 89.9 | 37.6 | 31.1 | 1,613.9 |
| Source:Czech Hydrometeorological Institute[4][5][6][7][8][9] | |||||||||||||
The first written mention of Žatec is in the Latin chronicle ofThietmar of Merseburg of 1004. In 1248, Žatec was firstly titled as a town. In 1265, it received the privileges of a royal town from KingOttokar II.[10]
In the 16th century, Žatec had around 5,000 inhabitants and was one of the most populous towns in the kingdom. In 1827, a chain bridge over theOhře, the first chain bridge inBohemia, was built.[10]
From the outbreak of theHussite Wars in 1419 to theThirty Years' War, the town wasHussite orProtestant, but after theBattle of White Mountain (1620) the greater part of the Czech inhabitants left the town.[10] It remained an ethnically German town until 1945, when the Germans wereexpelled. On 3 June 1945, 5,000 maleSudeten German inhabitants from Žatec were marched to the town square ofPostoloprty, and at least 763 were murdered. Estimates range up to 2,000 victims killed by Czechoslovak military on the march, in Postoloprty, and in Žatec on and after the march.[11]
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| Source: Censuses[12][13] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Žatec and its surroundings is known for its tradition of growingSaaz hops. Saaz hops or Žatec hops is aprotected designation of origin.[14]
The tradition of beer brewing started here in 1261; growing of hops is first documented in 1348.[10] In 1800–1801, theŽatec Brewery started its production, which continues to this day.[15]
Žatec is located on the railway linePlzeň–Most. The town is served by two train stations:Žatec andŽatec západ.
Žatec hostsDočesná, a hops-related harvest festival. It takes place on the town square every September.[16]
Žatec is home to three secondary schools: Žatec Gymnasium, Business Academy and Secondary Vocational School of Agriculture and Ecology, and Secondary Vocational School SČMSD (focused on the hotel industry and gastronomy). There are six primary schools and a primary art school.[17]
Žatec is represented by the football club FK Slavoj Žatec, playing in lower amateur tiers. It was founded in 1936.[18]
The main sports facility is the Mládí Stadium. It was founded in 1965.[19]
The Flora Stadium is a sports facility in the south of the town. It was founded between 1924 and 1938.[20] Until 1960, it had amotorcycle speedway track at the site.[21]
Since 1961, the historic core of Žatec has been protected as anurban monument reservation. It is a collection of important buildings and architectural styles from the Romanesque period to the Art Nouveau.[10]
Since 2003, the area south of the historic centre has been protected as anurban monument zone. It is valuable mainly for its technical constructions related to hop growing.[22]
The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is one of the most significant monuments. It was originally built in the Romanesque style and some of its Romanesque parts are still preserved. In 1724–1728, the Chapel of Saint John of Nepomuk was added. Around 1740, the west façade was reconstructed in the Baroque style.[23]
The hop-growing and brewing tradition is widely presented by the town. There are Hop Museum and Brewing Museum. The Temple of Hops and Beer is a tourist complex with several attractions, including a lookout tower and a smallastronomical clock. Žatec and the Landscape of Saaz Hops (which includes the village of Trnovany within Žatec and the village ofStekník) was included in theUNESCOWorld Heritage List in 2023.[24]
Retro Computer in Žatec is a permanent exhibition ofhome computers from the 1970s to the 1990s. It is a private collection of over 135 pieces of functional technology.[25]
Žatec was used as a filming location for many historical films and TV series, including[26]Yentl (1983),The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992),Les Misérables (1998),The Scarlet Pimpernel (1999),Oliver Twist (1999),Burning Bush (2013),[27]The Zookeeper's Wife (2016),[28]A Bag of Marbles (2017) andOscar-winningJojo Rabbit (2019).[29]
Krasnystaw, Poland
Poperinge, Belgium
Thum, Germany
Žalec, Slovenia
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1 Shared withGermany;2 Shared with six countries;3 Shared with 17 countries | ||
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| National | |
