Velvary

Velvary is a town in Kladno District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone.

Administrative parts
The villages of Ješín, Malá Bučina and Velká Bučina are administrative parts of Velvary.

Etymology
The name is derived from velvaři, which was a colloquial term for people who cooked a lot (from velmi vařit, i.e. "to cook a lot").

Geography
Velvary is located about 18 km northeast of Kladno and 22 km northwest of Prague. It lies in a flat agricultural landscape of the Lower Ohře Table. The highest point is at 272 m above sea level. The stream of Bakovský potok flows through the town.

History
The first written mention of Velvary is from 1282. For centuries, it was an important stop on the way from Prague to Saxony. After 1357, it became a royal property and it was promoted to a market town by King Charles IV. In 1482, it was promoted to a town by King Vladislaus II. The prosperity and development of the town ended with the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War. Velvary was looted several times and in 1639, it was burned down. The restoration of the town, which began at the end of the 17th century, was very slow, and it was not until the beginning of the 19th century that the town reached the size it had before the Thirty Years' War.

Transport
The I/16 road (the section that connects Mělník with the D6 motorway) passes through the town.

Velvary is the terminus of a short local railway line heading from Kralupy nad Vltavou.

Sport
The town is home to a football club TJ Slovan Velvary, which plays in the Bohemian Football League (third tier of the Czech football league system).

Sights
The major sights of the spacious Krále Vladislava Square include a Baroque Marian column (built in 1716–1719), the Baroque town hall from 1717, and the Church of Saint Catherine. The church is the most valuable monument of Velvary. It is originally a Gothic building, first mentioned in 1337. It was rebuilt in the second half of the 15th century and modified in the Renaissance style in 1580–1604, as part of reconstruction after a lightning strike. At the end of the 17th century, the church was modified in the Baroque style, but none of these modifications has been preserved as a result of the neo-Gothic reconstruction at the beginnng of the 20th century. The interior of the church is decorated with murals from the mid-15th century.

The Church of Saint George is located in the southern part of the town. It was built in the Renaissance style in 1613–1616. The church is surrounded by a large cemetery.

The Church of All Saints is located in the western part of the town and is the only remnant of the former settlement of Malovary, which fused with Velvary in the 16th century. The church probably dates from the 13th century. Around 1700, it was extended and modified in the Baroque style. In the mid-19 century, it was rebuilt into its present form.

The Prague Gate was built in the Renaissance style in 1580 and is the last preserved of three town gates.

Notable people

 * Jan Antonín Koželuh (1738–1814), composer
 * Leopold Koželuh (1747–1818), composer
 * Václav Klement (1868–1938), automotive pioneer
 * Karel Treybal (1885–1941), chess player; worked here