Bezděkov (Klatovy District)

Bezděkov (Besdiekau) is a municipality and village in Klatovy District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,000 inhabitants.

Administrative parts
The villages of Koryta, Poborovice, Struhadlo, Tetětice and Vítaná are administrative parts of Bezděkov.

Geography
Bezděkov is located about 5 km west of Klatovy and 40 km south of Plzeň. It lies in the Švihov Highlands. The highest point is at 695 m above sea level, below the summit of Velký Bítov hill. The Úhlava River flows along the eastern municipal border and shortly through the municipality.

History
The first written mention of Bezděkov is from 1331. The village was probably founded in the 13th century.

Transport
The I/22 road (the section from Klatovy to Domažlice) runs through the municipality.

Bezděkov is located on the main railway line Prague–Železná Ruda via Plzeň and on the regional line Klatovy–Domažlice.

Sights
The main landmark of Bezděkov is the Bezděkov Castle. The original castle was built on the site of an older Gothic fortress in 1737. In 1854–1856, the castle was rebuilt into its current Gothic Revival form by the architect Vojtěch Ignác Ullmann. Today, the castle is privately owned and inaccessible.

The Church of Saint Anne on a hill near Bezděkov dates from 1693. After its capacity became insufficient, the Church of Saint Wenceslaus was built in the centre of the village in 1899–1901. It belongs to the youngest churches in the region.

Notable people

 * Christian Heinrich Spiess (1755–1799), German writer; lived and died here