Slaný
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Slaný | ||
| Town | ||
 Centre of Slaný with St Gotthard Church from SE
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| Country |  Czech Republic |
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| Region | Central Bohemian | |
| District | Kladno | |
| Commune | Slaný | |
| Elevation | 234 m (768 ft) | |
| Coordinates | ||
| Area | 35.11 km² (13.56 sq mi) | |
| Population | 15,392 (2006-07-03) | |
| Density | 438 /km² (1,134 /sq mi) | |
| First mentioned | 1239 | |
| Mayor | RNDr. Ivo Rubík | |
| Timezone | CET (UTC+1) | |
| - summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | |
| Postal code | 250 11 - 274 01 | |
   Location in the Czech Republic
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| Wikimedia Commons: Slaný | ||
| Statistics: statnisprava.cz | ||
| Website: www.meuslany.cz | ||
The Royal town1 Slaný (IPA: [ˈslaniː]; German: Schlan) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic, located about 25 km northwest of Prague.
The town is situated in the Slaný Plain (northwestern part of a geomorphologic whole called the Prague Plain). A creek called Červený potok (Red creek) flows through it from the southwest to the northeast. Its dominant feature is the Slaný Hill.
1 The granting of Royal town (Královské město) status signified important privileges during medieval times.
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[edit] History
The Chronicle of Václav Hájek records Slaný as having been founded in 750, at the site of a salt spring below Slaný Hill. (Slaný is Czech for "salty".) The Benedictines established a hospital and church in 1136. Wenceslas II chartered the settlement as a town either 1295 or 1305. The town was captured by the Taborites in 1425, during the Hussite Wars, and remained in their hands until 1434. It also participated in the Bohemia revolt that opened the Thirty Years' War, and suffered greatly after the nearby battle of White Mountain.
Since the middle of the 19th century Czech has been the dominant language here. Industrial development was delayed until around 1860. An important engineering factory was built in 1872 and more followed. A factory producing batteries was founded in 1918. The infrastructure and amenities of a modern city have been gradually added since the second half of the 19th century.
[edit] Slaný today
Villages Dolín, Želevčice, Lotouš, Blahotice, Netovice, Kvíc, Kvíček, Trpoměchy and Otruby are administrative parts of Slaný.
The town of Slaný is situated at the crossing of the roads Prague - Louny, Prague - Karlovy Vary. The Prague - Most railway also goes through Slaný.
[edit] Important buildings and tourist sights
- town hall, symbol of the town (house from 1378, rebuilt after 1896 and in 1840) [1], [2]
- The Trinity church, built 1581 - 1602, monastery added 1655 - 1662 [3], [4]
- former college of Piarists (built 1658, rebuilt 1877), today museum [5], [6]
- St. Gothard's Gothic church (originally from 13th century) [7], [8]
- preserved Renaissance house [9], [10]
- nearby ruins of Gothic Okoř Castle [11]
- open-air museum of army in village Smečno (shows pre-World War II fortifications)[12]
- museum of historical cars in village Hobšovice [13]
- open-air museum about mining in village Vinařice [14]
[edit] Famous persons
- Václav Beneš Třebízský (1849 - 1884), priest and novelist, born in Třebíz near Slaný
- Karl Josef Biener from Bienenberg (1731- 1798), archeologist and coin collector
- František Bílek (1885 - 1972), founder of the Czech modern livestock breeding
- Ladislav Čepelák (1924 - 2001), painter and graphic artist
- František Duras (1851 - 1931, photographer, director of the museum of Slaný
- Jaroslav Fencl (1913 - ?), graphic artist, lived and worked here
- Josef František Frič (1804 - 1876) - lawyer, promoted Czech language in legal area
- Josef Holub (1870 - 1957), painter, born here
- Eduard Hradec (1918), co-founder of Czech modern urology
- Jindřich Hulinský, historian, archivist, wrote about the city and area history
- Dominik Kynský (1777 - 1848), writer and translator
- Josef Lacina (1850 - 1907), historian, historical writer (pen-name Kolda Malínský), maintained town archive
- Jan Malypetr (1873 - 1947), politician, prime minister of Czechoslovakia, died here
- František Karel Miltner (1797 - 1874), archeologist, coin collector, active in politics around 1848
- Václav Moucha (1933), archeologist, born here
- Josef Matěj Navrátil (1787 - 1869), painter, born here
- Václav Nejtek (1899 - 1958), akademic sculptor, several his statues can be found in the town
- Josef Pacák, professor of organic chemistry at the Charles University [15]
- Martin Přibyl, priest, national revivalist, royal archivist in exile in Berlin
- Karel Scheinpflug (1869 - 1948), writer, entrepreneur
- Olga Scheinpflugová (1902 - 1968), actress and authores, born here
- Václav Smetáček (1906 - 1986), componist, conductor
- Miloslav Stiebr, professor at the Charles University, lawyer and juridical historian
- Jaroslav Suchý (1926 - 1975), anthropologist
- Rudolf Štech (1858 - 1908), architect, reconstructed town hall
- Václav Štech (1859 - 1947) writer, dramatist, co-founder of the Museum of Slaný
- Václav Vilém Štech (1885 –1974), historian of arts, journalist
- Jan Šultys from Felsdorf (Johann Schulz von Felsdorf), later on mayor of the town of Kutná Hora
- Jiří Tlustý, hockey player, a forward with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL
- Rudolf Urbánek (1877 - 1962), historian, professor at the University of Brno
- Ferdinand Velc (? - 1920), painter, art historian, journalist
- Daniel Vepřek (1600 - 1657), chronicler of the town, born here
- Karel Alois Vinařický (1803–1869), writer and translator
- Jakub Voráček, hockey player, a forward with the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL
[edit] External links
- English version of municipal website
- Other municipal website (in Czech)
- Very detailed history of the town (in Czech)
- Museum of Slaný (in Czech)
- Culture life in Slaný (in Czech)
- Slany - travel guide ( basic facts, history, sights, one-day trips)
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