Velká Bíteš (until 1924 Velká Byteš) is a town in
Žďár nad Sázavou District 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 5,200 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an
urban monument zone.
Administrative parts
Villages of Bezděkov, Březka, Holubí Zhoř, Jáchymov, Janovice, Jestřabí, Jindřichov, Košíkov, Ludvíkov and Pánov are administrative parts of Velká Bíteš. Pánov forms an
exclave of the municipal territory.
Geography
Velká Bíteš is located about southeast of
Žďár nad Sázavou
Žďár nad Sázavou (; german: Saar) is a town in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. It is situated on a major rail link between Prague and Brno. The town both industrial and tourist centre. It is known ...
and west of
Brno. It lies in the
Křižanov Highlands, on the small river Bítýška.
History
The first written mention of Velká Bíteš is from 1240, when the church was mentioned.
The settlement was founded in the first half of the 13th century. In the mid-14th century, it was 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 rural ...
and in 1408, it was promoted to a town.
The greatest development occurred after 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 ...
, but the town was severely damaged during the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
and recovered slowly. Velká Bíteš was not industrialized until 1950, when a large engineering company was founded. Thanks to this, the population increased significantly.
[
]
Demographics
Economy
The largest employers based in the town are ITW PRONOVIA, manufacturer of plastic products for the automotive industry, and První Brněnská Strojírna Velká Bíteš, manufacturer of aerospace technologies.
Transport
Velká Bíteš is located by the D1 motorway.
Sights
Velká Bíteš is known for the unique fortified Church of Sain John the Baptist. The original wooden structure was replaced by a stone Romanesque church in the 13th century. In the 15th century, it was surrounded by stone ramparts with an entrance tower.[
]
Notable people
* Martin Roháč (?–1571), serial killer
* Vojtěch Řepa (born 2000), cyclist
Twin towns – sister cities
Velká Bíteš is twinned with:Torrevecchia Pia
Torrevecchia Pia is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy, located about 25 km southeast of Milan and about 15 km northeast of Pavia.
Torrevecchia Pia borders the following municipalities: Ba ...
, Italy
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Velka Bites
Cities and towns in the Czech Republic
Populated places in Žďár nad Sázavou District