Náměšť nad Oslavou () is a town in

Třebíč District Třebíč District ( cs, okres Třebíč) is a district in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Třebíč. Administrative division Třebíč District is divided into three administrative districts of municipaliti ...

in the

Vysočina Region The Vysočina Region (; cs, Kraj Vysočina "Highlands Region", , ) is an administrative unit ( cs, kraj) of the Czech Republic, located partly in the south-eastern part of the historical region of Bohemia and partly in the south-west of the his ...

of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. It has about 4,700 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone.

Administrative parts

Villages of Jedov, Otradice and Zňátky are administrative parts of Náměšť nad Oslavou.

Geography

Náměšť nad Oslavou is located about east of

Třebíč Třebíč (; german: Trebitsch; yi, טרייביטש Treybitsh) is a town in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants. The beginnings of the town's history are connected with the establishment of a Benedictine ...

and west of Brno. The southern part of the municipal territory with most of the built-up area lies in the

Jevišovice Uplands Jevišovice (german: Jaispitz) is a town in Znojmo District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,100 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Geograph ...

. The northern part lies in the Křižanov Highlands and includes the highest point of Náměšť nad Oslavou at above sea level. The town lies on the

Oslava The Oslava is a river in the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Jihlava River. It originates in the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands at an elevation of 567 m and flows to Ivančice, where it enters the Jihlava River. It is 99.2 km long, and ...

River.

History

Náměšť was founded around 1220. The first written mention of Náměšť is from 1234, when the castle was owned by the lords of Lomnice. In the 14th and 15th centuries, Náměšť was frequently conquered and destroyed by various armies. In 1304, Náměšť was destroyed by

Cumans The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian exonym ), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many so ...

, in 1408 by the army of Lacko of Kravaře, and during the

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...

by the armies of

Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it '' Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...

and Albert II. From 1481 to 1563, Náměšť was owned by the lords of Lomnice again. In 1563, it was acquired by Jan the Elder of

Zierotin The House of Žerotín or House of Zierotin was a Czech noble family in the Lands of the Bohemian Crown, one of the oldest and most illustrious noble families from Bohemia and Moravia. The family was first mentioned around the year 1200 as ''B ...

, who had replaced the old Gothic castle with a new large Renaissance residence. Jan's successor Karl the Elder of Zierotin sold the manor to

Albrecht of Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the T ...

in 1628, who immediately sold it to the House of Werdenberg. The Werdenberg family owned it until 1733. From 1752 until the abolition of

manorialism Manorialism, also known as the manor system or manorial system, was the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of Europe, notably France and later England, during the Middle Ages. Its defining features included a large, sometimes forti ...

, Náměšť was in the possession of the Haugwitz family. The railway was built in 1866. In 1923, Náměšť nad Oslavou was promoted to a town.

Demographics

Culture

Since 1986, the town has been hosting the

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

festival ''Folkové prázdniny'' ("Folk Holidays").

Sights

The town is known for its Baroque bridge. It was built in 1737 and is decorated by twenty sculptures. It has the richest sculptural decoration in

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The m ...

and the second richest in the country after the

Charles Bridge Charles Bridge ( cs, Karlův most ) is a medieval stone arch bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the early 15th century.; The ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. Náměšť nad Oslavou Castle is the main landmark of the town and a national cultural monument. It is located on a hilltop above the town. It was built in 1572–1579. Today it is open to the public. It includes a castle park with valuable trees. The Church of Saint John the Baptist on the town square was built in 1639. It replaced an old Romanesque structure. The neighbouring complex of the rectory with Chapel of Saint Anne was built in the Baroque style in 1740–1745.

Notable people

* František Antonín Míča (1696–1744), conductor and composer * Karel František Koch (1890–1981), physician, known for rescuing Jews during the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

* Michael Rabušic (born 1989), footballer

Twin towns – sister cities

Náměšť nad Oslavou is twinned with: * Medzilaborce, Slovakia

References

External links

*
Official website of the castle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Namest nad Oslavou Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Populated places in Třebíč District