Kolín is a town in the Central Bohemian Region on both banks of the Elbe, about 60 kilometres east of Prague.
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Kolín lies in the Central Bohemian Region, about 60 km east of Prague, on both banks of the Elbe at the point where the river turns from a westerly to a northerly course [1]. The town stands on the edge of the Polabí Lowland, which belongs to the Central Elbe Table, while spurs of the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands reach it from the south and west [1]. Its centre is built on a rocky spur on the left bank of the river [1]. The surroundings include floodplain forests, among them the protected locality Veltrubský luh [1]. According to the Association of Historic Settlements of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, Kolín covers 35 km², lies at an average altitude of 220 metres and has about 33,000 inhabitants [1].
Foundation and medieval development
The royal town of Kolín came into being before 1261, probably on the initiative of King Ottokar II of Bohemia, although settlement in the area goes back to prehistory [1]. The rulers granted the town privileges, which drew German colonists as well as Czech inhabitants, attracted among other things by the nearby silver deposits at Kutná Hora [1]. From the 14th century a Jewish community also lived here and gradually grew [1].
The layout of medieval Kolín matched that of other towns founded by Ottokar II: a rectangular grid of streets, enclosed by walls, surrounded a large square, today called Karlovo náměstí [1]. At the south-eastern edge of the town, on a height, stood the church of St Bartholomew, while at the opposite, north-western end by the Elbe there was a Dominican monastery, which ceased to exist during the Hussite Wars [1]. On its site the Hussite captain Bedřich of Strážnice had a small castle built, called Lapis refugii, which in the second half of the 16th century the Žerotín family rebuilt into a Renaissance chateau [1]. The Žerotíns later lost the chateau, since Emperor Rudolf II did not extend their pledge of it, and the royal chamber then repeatedly pledged the estate to further owners [1].
Czech population and economic importance
As early as the time of the Hussite Wars the Czech population came to predominate in Kolín [1]. Thanks to its position at a crossroads of trade routes, the town became an economic and cultural centre of the middle Elbe region [1].
The Thirty Years' War and the period after the White Mountain
In the 17th century the Thirty Years' War interrupted the town's development [1]. After the defeat of the Estates' uprising in 1620, Kolín suffered post-White Mountain confiscations and a temporary loss of its town rights [1]. Pressure for re-Catholicisation gradually grew, and because of it part of the non-Catholic population went into exile [1]. During the war the town was occupied by armies several times, and the plundering by the soldiers of the Swedish general Torstenson in 1643 remained especially vivid in the memory of the inhabitants [1].
Post-war recovery and the Baroque
After the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648, Kolín recovered from the damage only slowly, and its population fell to roughly a third of the pre-war level [1]. According to the source, the most significant building of the second half of the 17th century is the Capuchin monastery with the Church of the Holy Trinity, whose construction was supported by the surrounding nobility and by the burghers of Kolín [1]. At the end of the 17th century and during the 18th century the churches in the town were rebuilt and their interiors were supplemented with Baroque furnishings and decoration, and new small chapels and minor ecclesiastical buildings were also built [1].
Pages linking here
- Central Bohemian Region
- Miloš Zeman
- Rectors' statement on the draft university budget (October 2026)
- Scio