Římov (České Budějovice District)

Římov (Rimau) is a municipality and village in České Budějovice District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,000 inhabitants.

Administrative parts
The villages of Branišovice, Dolní Stropnice, Dolní Vesce, Horní Vesce and Kladiny are administrative parts of Římov.

Etymology
The initial name of the settlement was Hřimov. It was derived from the personal name Hřim, meaning "Hřim's (court)". From the early 15th century, the name Římov was used.

Geography
Římov is located about 12 km south of České Budějovice. It lies in the Gratzen Foothills. It is situated on the left bank of the Malše River.

On the Malše River just above the village is the Římov Reservoir providing drinking water for large portion of the South Bohemian Region. The dam, completed in 1978, is 47.5 m high and 290 m long at crest. The reservoir has a volume of 33.8 million m³.

History
The first written mention of Římov is from 1395. The village was founded probably in the 13th century and belonged to lower aristocratic families. In 1626, Římov became the property of the Duke of Eggenberg, the owner of the castle in Český Krumlov. In the same year the duke gave Římov to the Jesuits and they established there a pilgrimage site with large Way of the Cross in 1648.

Transport
The I/3 road (part of the European route E55), specifically the section from České Budějovice to the Czech-Austrian border in Dolní Dvořiště, briefly crosses the municipal territory in the west.

Sights
The most important monument is the pilgrimage complex with the Church of the Holy Spirit and Loreto Chapel of Santa Casa. The centre of the area is the Loreto chapel, surrounded by ambits with baroque and rococo wall paintings and a set of lunette paintings that depict important pilgrimage sites in the Czech Republic. The Church of the Holy Spirit was built in the early Baroque style in 1697. A tall prismatic belfry was added to it in 1891. The pilgrimage complex is protected as a national cultural monument.

The decoration of the set of 25 Passion chapels, which forms the Way of the Cross, is also protected as a national cultural monument. Their value is due to their age and unusual scale, and their connection with the tradition of the pilgrimage site. The authorship of most of them is unknown.