Stěžery

Stěžery is a municipality and village in Hradec Králové District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,200 inhabitants.

Administrative parts
The villages of Charbuzice, Hřibsko and Stěžírky are administrative parts of Stěžery.

Geography
Stěžery is located about 4 km west of Hradec Králové. It lies in the East Elbe Table. The highest point is at 310 m above sea level.

History
The first written mention of Stěžery is in a deed of King Ottokar I from 1229, when the village was acquired by the monastery in Opatovice nad Labem. The monastery owned Stěžery until the Hussite Wars. From 1421 to 1547, the village was a property of the city of Hradec Králové.

Transport
The D11 motorway from Prague to Hradec Králové runs through the municipality.

Sights
The wooden Church of Saint Mark the Evangelist was first mentioned in 1350 or 1355. In 1832, it was replaced by the current construction in the Empire style.

Stěžery Castle was originally a fortress, rebuilt in the Renaissance style in 1802–1803 by Ernst Christoph of Harrach. The original fortress formed the northern wing of the castle. Today's appearance is mainly the result of modern reconstructions.

The Stěžery Zoopark is a small zoopark with an area of 2 ha.