Bystřice (Benešov District)

Bystřice (Bistritz bei Beneschau) is a town in Benešov District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 4,700 inhabitants.

Administrative parts
The villages of Božkovice, Drachkov, Hlivín, Hůrka, Jarkovice, Jeleneč, Jinošice, Jírovice, Jiřín, Kobylí a Plchov, Líšno, Líštěnec, Mlýny, Mokrá Lhota, Nesvačily, Opřetice, Ouběnice, Petrovice, Radošovice, Semovice, Strženec, Tožice, Tvoršovice, Vojslavice and Zahořany are administrative parts of Bystřice.

Geography
Bystřice is located about 6 km south of Benešov and 36 km southeast of Prague. It lies mostly in the Benešov Uplands. The eastern part of the municipal territory lies in the Vlašim Uplands and includes the highest point of Bystřice, the hill Žebrák at 585 m above sea level. The stream Konopišťský potok flows through the town and supplies several fishponds.

History
The first written mention of Bystřice is from 1352. It was probably founded between 1258 and 1278 as a market village on a trade route. it was promoted to a market town by King George of Poděbrady in 1471. In 1999, Bystřice became a town.

Transport
The I/3 road (part of the European route E55), which connects the D1 motorway with Tábor and further continues as the D3 motorway, passes next to the town.

Sights
The Church of Saints Simon and Jude is originally a Gothic church, rebuilt in the Baroque style.

The Líšno Castle is located in the village of Líšno. It was founded around 1367. It was completely rebuilt in the Romantic style in 1873–1884 and the castle park was founded. Since 2015, the castle has been privately owned. It serves social and cultural purposes.

Notable people

 * Stanislav Čeček (1886–1930), general
 * Zdeněk Štěpánek (1896–1968), actor