Josefův Důl (Mladá Boleslav District)

Josefův Důl is a municipality and village in Mladá Boleslav District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 400 inhabitants.

Etymology
The name means "Josef's valley". The village was named after its founder Josef Bolza.

Geography
Josefův Důl is located about 3 km north of Mladá Boleslav and 47 km northeast of Prague. With an area of 0.66 sqkm, it belongs to the smallest municipalities in the country. It lies in the Jizera Table. The municipality is situated on the left bank of the Jizera River, in a meander, which forms the northern and western municipal border.

History
The area originally belonged to Kosmonosy, which was bought by Countess Marie Johana Bolza-Martinic in 1760. Josefův Důl was founded as a workers' colony in 1764, when a dyehouse was established here by Count Josef Bolza and its employees settled in its vicinity. The name Josefův Důl first appeared in 1790.

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

Sights
The most valuable building in Josefův Důl is the so-called Josefův Důl Castle. It is a Neo-Renaissance villa built after 1860 for the then owner of the local factory, Friedrich von Leitenberger.