Zbraslav (; german: Königsaal; Latin ''Aula Regia'') is a
municipal district and cadastral area of
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
. The southernmost district of Prague, it lies on the
Vltava
Vltava ( , ; german: Moldau ) is the longest river in the Czech Republic, running southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice and Prague, and finally merging with the Labe at ...
River in the national administrative district of
Prague 16.
The former independent municipality of Zbraslav is now one of two cadastral areas in the Prague-Zbraslav Municipal District. The other is
Lahovice.
History
Zbraslav was founded in 1118. In the 13th century, the king
Wenceslaus II of Bohemia
Wenceslaus II Přemyslid ( cs, Václav II.; pl, Wacław II Czeski; 27 SeptemberK. Charvátová, ''Václav II. Král český a polský'', Prague 2007, p. 18. 1271 – 21 June 1305) was King of Bohemia (1278–1305), Duke of Cracow (1291–1 ...
founded here a very influential
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint B ...
abbey which was called ''Aula regia'' in Latin. The medieval monastery became the burial place of Bohemian kings. The
Madonna of Zbraslav The Zbraslav Madonna (c. 1360) comes from the parish church of St James the Greater in Zbraslav.Royt 2003, p.62 It is on long-term loan at the permanent exhibition of the National Gallery in Prague.
History of the painting
The Cistercian abbey ...
(a masterpiece of Bohemian Gothic fine art) was painted for this monastery in the 1340s.
In 1935,
V. Bulgakov founded an important Russian museum here with collections dedicated to
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...
n emigrants, but the museum was closed and confiscated by the
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
s before 1948.
In 1924,
Žabovřesky and
Záběhlice were joined to Zbraslav. In 1967, Zbraslav was promoted to a town. Zbraslav was merged into the city of Prague in 1974. It used to house the
Chinese and
Japanese collections of the
National Gallery in Prague
The National Gallery Prague ( cz, Národní galerie Praha, NGP), formerly the National Gallery in Prague (), is a state-owned art gallery in Prague, which manages the largest collection of art in the Czech Republic and presents masterpieces of Cze ...
in the building of former monastery.
Notable people
*
Petr Žitavský Peter of Zittau ( cz, Petr Žitavský; –1339) was a Bohemian churchman and historian. Born in Zittau, he entered the Cistercian monastery of Aula Regia (Zbraslav), founded by Wenceslaus II
Wenceslaus II Přemyslid ( cs, Václav II.; pl, W ...
(1270–1339), abbot of the
Zbraslav Monastery, politician and author of the ''Zbraslav Chronicle''
*
Vladislav Vančura (1891–1942), novelist; lived here from 1921
*
Jaromír Vejvoda (1902–1988), songwriter; his home is now a restaurant called Škoda Lásky with paraphernalia relating to him
References
External links
Unofficial Zbraslav page(in Czech)
Official page of the Prague-Zbraslav Municipal DistrictZbraslav and history
(in Czech)
{{Authority control
Districts of Prague