Bochov () is a town in
Karlovy Vary District
Karlovy Vary District () is a Okres, district in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the city of Karlovy Vary.
Administrative division
Karlovy Vary District is divided into two Districts of the Czech Republic#Municipalit ...
in the
Karlovy Vary Region
The Karlovy Vary Region () is an administrative unit () of the Czech Republic, located in the westernmost part of the country. It is named after its capital Karlovy Vary. It is known for spas, which include Karlovy Vary and Mariánské Lázně.
...
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 1,900 inhabitants.
Administrative division
Bochov consists of 17 municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census):
*Bochov (1,177)
*Číhaná (7)
*Dlouhá Lomnice (92)
*Herstošice (26)
*Hlineč (3)
*Javorná (71)
*Jesínky (1)
*Kozlov (84)
*Mirotice (21)
*Německý Chloumek (22)
*Nové Kounice (28)
*Polom (12)
*Rybničná (79)
*Sovolusky (24)
*Teleč (26)
*Těšetice (46)
*Údrč (99)
Geography
Bochov is located about southeast of
Karlovy Vary
Karlovy Vary (; , formerly also spelled ''Carlsbad'' in English) is a spa town, spa city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is located at the confluence of the Ohře and Teplá (river), Teplá ri ...
. It lies on the border of three nature regions. The eastern part of the municipal territory with the town proper lies in the
Teplá Highlands
Teplá () is a town in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,900 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as urban monument zone.
Administrative division
Teplá cons ...
, the western part lies in the
Slavkov Forest
The Slavkov Forest (formerly also Emperor's Forest; , ) is a highland and geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is located in the Karlovy Vary Region. Slavkov Forest is also the name of a protected landscape area, partially locat ...
, and a small part in the northeast extends into the
Doupov Mountains. The highest point is the hill Mirotický vrch at above sea level. The
Střela
The Střela is a river in the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Berounka River. It flows through the Karlovy Vary and Central Bohemian regions. It is long, making it the 22nd longest river in the Czech Republic.
Etymology
The name means ...
River flows along the southern municipal border. The area of Bochov is rich in fishponds.
History
The first written mention of Bochov is from 1325, when it was promoted to 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 rura ...
. It was founded in the first half of the 14th century as a mining settlement, but the tin reserves here were soon mined.
From 1938 to 1945, Bochov was occupied by Nazi Germany and administered as part of
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
Transport
The I/6 road (part of the
European route E48
European route E48 is a road that is part of the International E-road network. It runs between Schweinfurt, Germany and Prague, Czech Republic.
The road follows the route:
* Germany
** : Schweinfurt, Bayreuth
** : Marktredwitz
* Czech Republic ...
), which replaces the incomplete section of the
D6 motorway from
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 ...
to Karlovy Vary) passes through the town.
Sights
The main landmark of Bochov is the Church of Saint Michael the Archangel. It was built in the late Gothic style in the 15th century and rebuilt ito its present early Baroque form in 1666–1667, after it was damages by a fire. In the 18th century, further modifications were made.
The landmark of the town square is the Baroque town hall, which dates from 1818. In the middle of the town square is a massive granite fountain from the 18th century.
A tourist destination is a ruin of the Hartenštejn Castle on a hill near the town. It was built in the 1460s–1470s and belonged to the best defense systems in
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
, but already in 1573, it was abandoned. The reconstructed tower of Hartenštejn Castle now serves as an observation tower.
The predecessor of Hartenštejn was Hungerberg Castle, located on the outskirts of Bochov. It was founded in the 14th century and most likely ruined in 1469. Only a moat and a rampart have survived from the castle to this day.
In Javorná is the Javorná Castle and the Church of Saint John of Nepomuk. The Baroque castle was built in 1729–1730 on the site of a fortress from the 14th century. The church, located next to the castle, was originally a castle chapel.
The Church of Saint Leonard is located in Údrč. The originally Gothic church was rebuilt in the Neoclassical style after a fire in 1783.
Notable people
*
Fanny Blatny (1873–1949), politician
*
Karin Stoiber (born 1943), First Lady of Bavaria
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Cities and towns in the Czech Republic
Populated places in Karlovy Vary District