Olomouc, Czech Republic

Olomouc, Czech Republic
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Olomouc_panorama.jpg
Author: Michal Maňas


Olomouc (German: Olmütz) is a city in Moravia, in the eastern part of the Czech Republic. The city covers 103.36 sq km (39.91 sq mi) and has a population exceeding 100,000 people (2011 estimate), within an urban area of 480,000 people. It is located on the banks of the Morava river, about 219 m (719 ft) above sea level.

The Holy Trinity Column at Horni náměsti, the main square in Olomouc
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Olomouc-Horn%C3%AD_n%C3%A1m%C4%9Bst%C3%AD.JPG
Author: Dominik Tefert


Although the Romans established a fort in the area during the first century AD, it was the Slavs who established the first settlement here in the 7th century. By the 9th century, the Slavonic ruler was subdued by the Great Moravian rulers. The original town was destroyed as a result, and a new settlement established, which today forms a neighborhood of the inner city.

The city called Olomouc was established in the 13th century. It became the biggest town in Moravia. It had a Jewish community that settled there as early as AD 906. Over the centuries the Jews in Olomouc suffered discrimination a number of times. They were forced to live in a ghetto in 1060, and was eventually expelled in 1454. They were only allowed back in 1848, and a synagogue was once again built in the city in 1897.

St Wenceslas Cathedral, Olomouc
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:D%C3%B3m_Svat%C3%A9ho_V%C3%A1clava,_Olomouc.jpg
Author: xkomczax


Olomouc experienced its golden age from the second half of the 15th century until the Thirty Years' War in 1640, when it was captured by Swedish forces and occupied for eight years. From then onwards, it went into decline. In 1740 it was captured and briefly occupied by the Prussians. The city came under Czechoslovakia after World War I. It was occupied by the Nazis during the Second World War, during which time the Jews once again suffered discrimination, with thousands sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp as well as other concentration camps in Poland.

After the war, Olomouc was once again part of Czechoslovakia until the Velvet Revolution, which made it part of independent Czech Republic. Today it is an industrial city. Although not as popular as a tourist destination if compared to Prague, Český Krumlov and Karlovy Vary, it has the second largest Old Town in the Czech Republic after Prague.

The Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc is today a World Heritage Site.

Basilica of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary, Olomouc
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Svat%C3%BD_Kope%C4%8Dek_2010.JPG
Author: Kmenicka

Visiting Olomouc

Olomouc is about two and a half hours away from Prague by the IC/EC trains.

Places of Interest in Olomouc

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