Zbiroh

Zbiroh is a town in Rokycany District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,500 inhabitants.

Administrative parts
The villages of Chotětín, Jablečno, Přísednice and Třebnuška are administrative parts of Zbiroh.

Geography
Zbiroh is located about 18 km northeast of Rokycany and 30 km northeast of Plzeň. It lies in the Křivoklát Highlands. The highest point is the Kohoutov hill at 596 m above sea level. The stream Zbirožský potok flows through the town.

History
The first written mention of Zbiroh is from 1230. It was a market village which was promoted to a market town in 1369. During the rule of the Rosenberg family, Zbiroh developed and acquired various rights. In 1897, Zbiroh was promoted to a town by Franz Joseph I.

The first kill house in Czechoslovakia was built in 1947 in a police school in Zbiroh by World War II veterans of the Czechoslovak Army that had been trained in Great Britain.

Transport
There are no railways or major roads passing through the municipality. The D5 motorway from Prague to Plzeň runs south of the town just outside the municipal territory.

Sights
The most important monument is the Zbiroh Castle. The original Romanesque-Gothic castle was built at the end of the 12th century or in the early 13th century, and belongs to the oldest aristocratic residences in the country. At the end of the 16th century, it was rebuilt into its current appearance of a large Renaissance castle. The landmark of the original castle part is the oldest detached watch tower in the Czech Republic. The well located in Zbiroh Castle, 163 m deep, is one of the deepest castle wells in Europe.

The Church of Saint Nicholas was originally a Gothic building, rebuilt in the Baroque style in 1719–1720.

Notable people

 * Josef Václav Sládek (1845–1912), poet