Semily

Semily (Semil) is a town in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,100 inhabitants.

Administrative parts
The town parts of Bítouchov and Podmoklice and the village of Spálov are administrative parts of Semily.

Etymology
The name means "the settlement of semils". The old Czech word semil was the designation of a person who is nice. So Semily was a settlement of nice people.

Geography
Semily is located about 25 km southeast of Liberec. It lies at the confluence of the Jizera River and its left tributary Oleška. There is a nature reserve called Jizera Valley. Most of the municipal territory lies in the Giant Mountains Foothills. In the southwest, it extends into the Ještěd–Kozákov Ridge. The highest point is the Medenec hill at 544 m above sea level.

History
The first written mention of Semily is from 1352, when existence of a church is mentioned. In the middle of the 19th century, the settlement transformed into a wealthy town when the industrialization arrived and the development of rail transport occurred. Semily also profited from an advantageous location near the Jizera River.

Transport
Semily lies on the railway line Liberec–Pardubice.

Sights
The main landmark is the Church of Saints Peter and Paul. It was built in the Neo-Romanesque style in 1908–1911, after the old Baroque church from 1702 was torn down.

The Church of Saint John the Baptist was built in the Baroque style in 1723–1727. It is a valuable cemetery church.

Dr. Karel Farský prayer house was built for the Czechoslovak Hussite Church in 1938 and is considered one of the most valuable buildings of modern architecture in the region.

Obecní dům is a large Art Nouveau house built in 1906–1909, which forms a significant landmark in the historic centre of the town. The house is decorated with a mosaic by Jano Köhler.

The town hall dates from 1874. It replaced an old dilapidated wooden town hall from 1702.

The Museum and Regional Gallery is located in a historical one-floor house frist documented in the early 17th century, where Antal Stašek worked and his son Ivan Olbracht was born. The museum and gallery has been located there since 1960.

Notable people

 * František Ladislav Rieger (1818–1903), politician
 * Antal Stašek (1843–1931), writer and lawyer, lived and worked here in 1877–1913
 * Bohumil Kučera (1874–1921), physicist
 * Ivan Olbracht (1882–1952), writer
 * Magdalena Jetelová (born 1946), artist

Twin towns – sister cities
Semily is twinned with:
 * 🇺🇦 Kolochava, Ukraine
 * 🇩🇪 Schauenburg, Germany