Blšany () is a town in

Louny District Louny District () is a Okres, district in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Louny, but the most populated town is Žatec. Administrative division Louny District is divided into three Districts of the Cze ...

in the

Ústí nad Labem Region Ústí nad Labem Region or Ústecký Region () is an Regions of the Czech Republic, administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the north-western part of the historical land of Bohemia, and named after the capital, Ústí nad Labem. I ...

of the

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

. It has about 1,000 inhabitants.

Administrative division

Blšany consists of six municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Blšany (407) *Liběšovice (149) *Malá Černoc (119) *Siřem (68) *Soběchleby (151) *Stachov (35)

Geography

Blšany is located about southwest of

Louny Louny (; ) is a town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 18,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Ohře River. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument ...

, southwest of

Ústí nad Labem Ústí nad Labem (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 91,000 inhabitants and is the capital of the Ústí nad Labem Region. It is a major industrial centre and, besides being an active river port, is an important railway junction. ...

, and west of

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. The northern part of the municipal territory lies in the

Most Basin The Most Basin (also known as North Bohemian Basin; , ) is a structural basin and geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is named after the city of Most. It forms the southwestern and central parts of the Ústí nad Labem Region. ...

. The southern part lies in the

Rakovník Uplands Rakovník (, ) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Administrative division Rakovník consists o ...

and includes the highest point of Blšany, the hill Hůrka at above sea level. The

Blšanka The Blšanka is a river in the Czech Republic, a right tributary of the Ohře River. It flows through the Ústí nad Labem Region, Ústí nad Labem and Karlovy Vary Region, Karlovy Vary regions. It is long. Etymology The river is named after the ...

River flows through the town.

History

The first written mention of Blšany is from 1238, when the village was a property of the

Waldsassen Abbey Waldsassen Abbey (German: ''Abtei Waldsassen'') is a Cistercian nunnery, formerly a Cistercian monastery, located on the River Wondreb at Waldsassen near Tirschenreuth, Oberpfalz, in Bavaria, Germany, close to the border with the Czech Republic ...

. Between 1238 and 1252, a small town was founded on the site of the village. From 1938 to 1945, Blšany was annexed by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

and administered as part of the

Reichsgau Sudetenland The Reichsgau Sudetenland was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1939 to 1945. It comprised the northern part of the ''Sudetenland'' territory, which was annexed from Czechoslovakia according to the 30 September 1938 Munich Agreement. ...

Demographics

Economy

Blšany is located in an area known for growing hops.

Transport

The I/27 road, which connects

Plzeň Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...

with

Most Most or Möst may refer to: Places * Most, Kardzhali Province, a village in Bulgaria * Most (city), a city in the Czech Republic ** Most District, a district surrounding the city ** Most Basin, a lowland named after the city ** Autodrom Most, moto ...

, runs through the town.

Sport

Blšany was known nationwide for its football club

FK Chmel Blšany FK Chmel Blšany was a Czech football club based in the village of Blšany. The club played in the Czech First League between 1998 and 2006 and was the first professional club of goalkeeper Petr Čech. The club disbanded in 2016 after resigning f ...

, which played in the

Czech First League The Czech First League () also known as the Chance Liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Czech Republic and the highest level of the Czech Republic football league system. Seasons typically run from A ...

between 1998 and 2006. Blšany is the smallest town where the Czech First League was played.

Sights

The main landmark of Blšany is the Church of Saint Michael. It was built in the Baroque style in 1716–1717 and rebuilt in 1825.

Notable people

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

spent several months in convalescence in the village of Siřem after

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

was diagnosed.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blsany Cities and towns in the Czech Republic Populated places in Louny District