Milovice (Nymburk District)

Milovice (Czech pronunciation: [ˈmɪlovɪtsɛ]; German: Milowitz) is a town in Nymburk District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 12,000 inhabitants. It is located about 38 kilometres (24 mi) northeast of Prague.

Milovice
Town
Municipal office on the town square
Flag
Coat of arms
Milovice
Location in the Czech Republic
Coordinates: 50°13′44″N 14°53′26″E
Country Czech Republic
RegionCentral Bohemian
DistrictNymburk
First mentioned1396
Government
 • MayorLukáš Pilc (ODS)
Area
 • Total28.34 km2 (10.94 sq mi)
Elevation
221 m (725 ft)
Population
 (2021-01-01)[1]
 • Total12,249
 • Density430/km2 (1,100/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code
289 23, 289 24
Websitewww.mesto-milovice.cz

As of 2021, with an average age of 34.7 years, the town has one of the youngest populations in the country, and the youngest in category of towns over 10,000 inhabitants.[1]

Administrative parts

Town parts and villages of Benátecká Vrutice, Boží Dar and Mladá are administrative parts of Milovice.

History

The first written mention of Milovice is from 1396.[2]

Since the 1990s, the town Milovice belongs to the fastest growing suburban areas in the Czech Republic mainly thanks to cheap accommodation left by the Soviet Army.[3]

Military base
Military camp in 1908

The first military base was founded in Mladá by the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1904.[2] During World War I, there was a prisoner camp of Russian and Italian soldiers, which has a military cemetery in town. After the War, the newly founded Czechoslovak Army started to use the camp as a main military base in Bohemia. During the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, the base served as a centre for German film propaganda, where fake footage from the Eastern Front was shot.

In 1968 the base came under Soviet control, played an important role during the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, and became the headquarters for the Central Group of Forces afterwards.[4] They built a massive airport and accommodation for about 100,000 Soviet soldiers and their relatives. The last of the troops left in 1991 and the base was abandoned in 1995. In August 1996, the revitalization of the former military training area began.[2]

Demography
Historical population
YearPop.±%
18691,597—    
18801,882+17.8%
18902,070+10.0%
19001,911−7.7%
19101,732−9.4%
YearPop.±%
19212,868+65.6%
19304,720+64.6%
19505,878+24.5%
19613,872−34.1%
19702,747−29.1%
YearPop.±%
19801,521−44.6%
19911,330−12.6%
20014,212+216.7%
201110,140+140.7%
202112,249+20.8%
Source: Historical lexicon of municipalities of the Czech Republic[5]

Culture

Since 2015, the Let It Roll festival is held at the former airfield for three days in August, with roughly 25,000 attendees.[6]

Sights
Church of Saint Catherine of Alexandria

The Neo-Gothic Church of Saint Catherine of Alexandria was consecrated in 1907. It was built as a replacement for the destroyed parish complex in the village of Mladá, which was razed to the ground due to the establishment of the military base. The wall decoration dates from 1915 and 1916 and was attended by prisoners of war from the camp.[7]

The international military cemetery was founded in 1915 for victims of the World War I. More than 6,000 people of at least 10 nationalities are buried here, 5,276 of which are Italian, therefore the cemetery is called Italian Cemetery.[8]

Milovice Nature Reserve

In January 2015, a group of 14 Exmoor ponies were moved from Exmoor National Park to Milovice Nature Reserve in an effort to save the biodiversity of the location through conservation grazing.[9] Other animals in the reserve include aurochs and European bisons.

Twin towns – sister cities
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in the Czech Republic

Milovice is twinned with:[10][11]

  • Soviet base in 1984
  • Airport hangar 2013
  • Abandoned building
  • Italian military cemetery
  • Milovice Nature Reserve

References
  1. "Population of Municipalities – 1 January 2021". Czech Statistical Office. 2021-04-30.
  2. "Základní informace o městě" (in Czech). Město Milovice. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
  3. "New science park in Milovice". ČTK. 2014-03-18. Retrieved 2014-12-18.
  4. Roberts, James. "Close Air Support and the Soviet Threat". Heritage.org. Archived from the original on 2009-10-14. Retrieved 2012-04-06.
  5. "Historický lexikon obcí České republiky 1869–2011 – Okres Nymburk" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. 2015-12-21. pp. 7–8.
  6. Šmejdová, Ivana. "Na monstrózní festival Let It Roll neproklouzla bez akreditace ani myš". Nymburský deník. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  7. "Kostel sv. Kateřiny Alexandrijské" (in Czech). Město Milovice. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
  8. "Mezinárodní vojenský hřbitov Milovice" (in Czech). Město Milovice. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
  9. "Czechs import wild horses to save biodiversity".
  10. "Zápis z jednání Rady města Milovice č.26/2019". urad.mesto-milovice.cz (in Czech). Město Milovice. 2019-08-21. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
  11. Jilemnický, Miroslav S. (2019-12-06). "Milovice mají partnerské město z Maďarska". Nymburský Deník (in Czech). Nymburský Deník. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
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