Olomouc is a statutory city on the Morava River and the regional capital of the Olomouc Region.[1][2] The Olomouc District lies in the geographical centre of Moravia, and most of it belongs to the flat Upper Morava Valley through which the Morava flows.[3] According to the Czech Statistical Office, the city had 103,063 inhabitants on 1 January 2025.[4] The statutory city has existed as a separate legal entity since 24 November 1990; it is not divided into districts or parts with their own self-government.[2]*
History
The site was already settled in prehistoric times. In the second half of the 2nd century AD the Romans set up a marching camp here during the wars with the Marcomanni; archaeologists found its remains in Neředín in 2001, and it is the northernmost evidence of Roman military activity in Central Europe.[1] In the first half of the 11th century the first Moravian appanage prince, Břetislav, settled in Olomouc; the princely castle is first mentioned by Cosmas under the year 1055. A Moravian bishopric was founded in 1063 and Hradisko Monastery fifteen years later. In 1141 Bishop Jindřich Zdík moved the episcopal see to the Church of St Wenceslas.[1]
The royal town was probably founded before 1246 under Wenceslas I; the oldest known impression of the town seal dates from 1267. On 4 August 1306 King Wenceslas III, the last male Přemyslid, was murdered in the house of the chapter dean. In 1469 the Catholic nobility elected Matthias Corvinus King of Bohemia in Olomouc Cathedral, and in 1479 a peace between the claimants to the Bohemian throne was concluded here. On 22 December 1573 a university began its work, the second oldest in the Czech lands.[1]
From 1642 to 1650 the Swedes held the city; while more than thirty thousand people had lived here in 1640, only 1,675 remained after they left. In 1655 Olomouc was declared a fortress town, and in 1758 it withstood a Prussian siege. In 1777 the bishopric became an archbishopric. On 2 December 1848 Franz Joseph I became emperor in the Archbishop's Palace.[1] The first train arrived in 1841, the fortress status ended in 1886, and the first tram ran in 1898. In 1919 two towns and eleven municipalities were joined to create Greater Olomouc. In March 1939 the synagogue by the Theresian Gate burned down. The historic centre was declared an urban heritage reserve in April 1971. The 1997 flood inundated more than a third of the city.[1]
Monuments
The Holy Trinity Column stands on Horní náměstí. According to the Památkový katalog (Heritage Catalogue) of the National Heritage Institute, it was built between 1716 and 1754 to a design by Václav Render, and Ondřej Zahner was among the sculptors who worked on it. It was consecrated in 1754 in the presence of Empress Maria Theresa and has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2000.[5] The main tower of St Wenceslas Cathedral is 100.65 m high and is the tallest in Moravia. Next to the cathedral stand the Přemyslid Palace and the Chapel of St Anne with the chapter deanery. The Church of St Maurice, where the then largest organ in Central Europe was installed in 1745, is also a national cultural monument. Hradisko Monastery has served as a military hospital since 1802. The historic centre also has a set of six Baroque fountains.[3] The astronomical clock on the town hall, dating back to the 15th century, was given a socialist-realist appearance after the Second World War to a design by the painter Karel Svolinský; figures of workers and other trades now revolve in place of the apostles. The renewed clock was unveiled on 9 May 1955.[6]
Institutions
Olomouc is the seat of an archdiocese and of Palacký University.[1] The university was re-established on 21 February 1946 under the name of František Palacký and now has eight faculties. Cultural life centres on the Moravian Theatre and the Moravian Philharmonic. The Flora exhibition grounds have been associated with the city since 1966, and a zoo has operated on Svatý Kopeček since 1956.[3]
Pages linking here
- Acute Child Psychiatric Care at Olomouc University Hospital 2026
- Introduction of a Fuel Price Cap (2026)
- Milan Adámek
- Olomouc Region
- Ostrava
- Pardubice
- Pardubice Region
- South Moravian Region