Mnichovo Hradiště

Mnichovo Hradiště (Münchengrätz) is a town in Mladá Boleslav District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 9,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone.

Administrative parts
The villages of Dneboh, Dobrá Voda, Hněvousice, Hoškovice, Hradec, Kruhy, Lhotice, Olšina, Podolí, Sychrov and Veselá are administrative parts of Mnichovo Hradiště.

Etymology
The town was initially named Hradiště (i.e. "gord"), after the monastery of the monks who founded the town. Later the town was called Hradiště nad Jizerou and Hradiště Mnichové. From the 19th century, the town is called Mnichovo Hradiště ("monk's gord").

Geography
Mnichovo Hradiště is located about 12 km north of Mladá Boleslav and 26 km south of Liberec. It lies in the Jičín Uplands. The highest point is at 406 m above sea level. The town is situated on the left bank of the Jizera River, which forms the western municipal border. The streams Veselka and Nedbalka, tributaries of the Jizera, flow through the town.

History
The first written mention of Hradiště is from 1279. It was founded by monks from the nearby Cistercian monastery in Klášter Hradiště nad Jizerou. The monastery owned the town until 1420, when both the monastery and the town were burned down by the Orebites. After the Hussite Wars, properties of the monastery were divided among various noble families. Since then, the owners of Hradiště have often changed. The owners included Jan Čapek of Sány, Mikuláš Berka of Dubá, Old Town of Prague and Jan of Vartenberk.

From the end of the 16th century, the town was owned by the Budovec of Budov family. Václav Budovec of Budov was executed in 1621. After his death, the Hradiště estate was acquired by Albrecht von Wallenstein, who soon gave it to his relative Maxmilián of Waldstein. At the end of the 17th century, Hradiště became the centre of an extensive estate. In the 18th century, the town developed rapidly. New houses and representative buildings were built, culture and education were supported and a Jewish community was established. The Waldstein family owned the estate until 1945.

Until 1918 the town was part of Austria-Hungary and was the centre of a district, which was one of the 94 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in Bohemia.

Economy
In 2010, a factory producing the Czech cola-based drink Kofola opened in Mnichovo Hradiště.

Transport
The D10 motorway from Prague to Turnov runs next to the town.

Mnichovo Hradiště is located on the railway line Prague–Turnov.

Sights
The main landmark of the town is Mnichovo Hradiště Castle. The original Gothic fortress was rebuilt into a Renaissance residence in 1606 by Václav Budovec of Budov. In 1945, it was confiscated by the state. Today the castle is still owned by the state and is open to the public. It is protected as a national cultural monument.

The castle is connected to the Baroque complex of the Capuchin monastery from the 1690s, founded by the Waldsteins. The complex include the Church of the Holy Three Kings, the convent and the burial chapel of the Waldsteins. The remains of Albrecht von Wallenstein were moved from Jičín to the chapel in 1723.

The Church of Saint James the Great is among the most valuable buildings of the town. It was built in the Baroque style in 1726–1727.

Notable people

 * Leopold Kompert (1822–1886), Jewish writer
 * Jan Šverma (1901–1944), journalist, communist activist, resistance fighter
 * Jiří Tancibudek (1921–2004), Czech-Australian oboist

Twin towns – sister cities
Mnichovo Hradiště is twinned with:
 * 🇵🇱 Chojnów, Poland
 * 🇩🇪 Erzhausen, Germany
 * 🇮🇹 Figline e Incisa Valdarno, Italy