Svijany () is a municipality and village in

Liberec District Liberec District () is a district in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the city of Liberec. Administrative division Liberec District is divided into three administrative districts of municipalities with extended competence: ...

in the

Liberec Region Liberec Region () is an administrative unit (Czech language, Czech: ''kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located in the northernmost part of its historical region of Bohemia. It is named after its capital Liberec. The region shares international bor ...

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 400 inhabitants. It is known for the

Svijany Brewery Svijany Brewery () is a brewery in Svijany in the Czech Republic. Established in 1564, it is one of the oldest Czech breweries. The brewery produces an extensive range of unpasteurised lagers, mostly light in color and ranging in strength betwee ...

Geography

Svijany is located about south of

Liberec Liberec (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 108,000 inhabitants, making it the fifth largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse River, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preserved and is pr ...

. It lies in the

Jičín Uplands The Jičín Uplands () are uplands and a geomorphological mesoregion of the Czech Republic. It is located in the Hradec Králové, Liberec and Central Bohemian regions. Geomorphology The Jičín Uplands are a mesoregion of the North Bohemian ...

. The highest point is at above sea level. The municipality is situated on the right bank of the Jizera River, which forms the southern municipal border.

History

The first written mention of Svijany is from 1345, when the village was owned by a

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, 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 Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monastery in

Mnichovo Hradiště Mnichovo Hradiště (; ) is a town in Mladá Boleslav District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 9,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic ...

. In 1565, Svijany was acquired by Jaroslav of Wartenberg, who had built a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

castle here. Upon Jaroslav's death in 1602, the village passed to

Joachim Andreas von Schlick Joachim Andreas von Schlick, Count of Passaun and Weißkirchen (in Czech Jáchym Ondřej Šlik z Holíče, hrabě z Passaunu; 9 September 1569, in Ostrov – 21 June 1621, in Prague) was a Bohemian nobleman of the Schlick family in the Kingdom ...

. As a rebel against Habsburg rule of Bohemia, he was executed in 1621, and in 1623, Svijany came under control of

Albrecht of Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland (; 24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein (), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Thirty Years' War (1618–16 ...

His family ''His Family'' is a novel by Ernest Poole published in 1917 about the life of a New York widower and his three daughters in the 1910s. It received the first Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1918. Plot introduction ''His Family'' tells the story ...

owned Svijany until 1814. From 1820, the village was in possession of the Rohan family, who were its last aristocratic owners. In 1945, the castle and the brewery were confiscated and nationalized. The castle was rebuilt into apartments and gradually fell into disrepair.

Demographics

Economy

Svijany is known for the

, which was founded in 1564. It is one of the oldest continuously operating breweries in the Czech Republic.

Transport

The D10 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 ...

Turnov Turnov (; ) is a town in Semily District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 15,000 inhabitants. It is a traditional centre for gemstone polishing, glass craftsmanship and arts. The historic town centre is well preserved and ...

runs through Svijany.

Sights

The most notable monument is the Svijany Castle. It was built in 1578, and rebuilt and extended during the rule of the Waldstein family. Since 1998, the castle has been owned by the brewery, which had reconstructed it. Today the castle is open to the public, contains several exhibitions, and is also used as a hotel and restaurant.

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Liberec District