Velké Poříčí

Velké Poříčí (Groß Poritsch) is a market town in Náchod District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,400 inhabitants.

Etymology
The word poříčí denotes an area "along the river" (podél řeky). The name Velké Poříčí means "Great Poříčí".

Geography
Velké Poříčí is located about 5 km north of Náchod and 37 km northeast of Hradec Králové, and it briefly borders Poland in the south. It lies in the Orlické Foothills. The highest point is at 490 m above sea level. The Metuje River flows through the market town. The market town is urbanistically fused with the town of Hronov.

History
The settlement was most likely founded during the colonization of the area at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries. A settlement called Poříčko was documented in 1415, but it is not certain whether Velké Poříčí could be meant by this. The first trustworthy written mention of Velké Poříčí is from 1496. The village was part of the Náchod estate.

At the end of the 19th century, there was a boom in the village, connected with the construction of the railway in 1875 and with the development of the textile industry in the region. In 1908, Velké Poříčí was promoted to a market town.

Transport
Velké Poříčí is located on the railway line Broumov–Starkoč.

Sights
The main landmark of Velké Poříčí is the Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary. It was built in 1906–1910 and is not protected as a cultural monument.

There are two protected cultural monuments: a late Baroque sculpture group of the Holy Trinity from 1821 and the Art Nouveau building of the primary school from the beginning of the 20th century.