Holubice (Prague-West District)

Holubice is a municipality and village in Prague-West District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,200 inhabitants.

Administrative parts
The village of Kozinec is an administrative part of Holubice.

Etymology
The name is derived from the personal name Holub, meaning "the village of Holub's people". The word holub means 'pigeon'.

Geography
Holubice is located about 13 km north of Prague. It lies in the Prague Plateau. The highest point is the hill Ers at 345 m above sea level.

History
The first written mention of Holubice is in a donation deed of King Ottokar I from 1204. From 1547 to 1622, the village was owned by the Gryspek of Gryspach family. After their properties were confiscated by the royal chamber as a result of the Battle of the White Mountain, Polyxena of Lobkowicz acquired Holubice in 1623. Since then, it was property of the Lobkowicz family.

Transport
There are no railways or major roads passing through the municipality.

Sights
The most important monument is the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. It is a Romanesque-Gothic building with the core from the first half of the 13th century. It was rebuilt several times, but retains its medieval character.

Paleontology
In 1878 a few fossil fragments of some small Cretaceous reptile (presumably a small dinosaur of uncertain affinities) were found here. Czech naturalist Antonín Frič named it Procerosaurus exogyrarum, now it is known as Ponerosteus exogyrarum.