Milovice

For other uses, see Milovice (disambiguation).

Milovice (Czech pronunciation: [ˈmɪlovɪtsɛ]; German: Milowitz) is a town in Nymburk District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants.

Milovice
Town
Town hall on the town square
Flag Coat of arms
Milovice Location in the Czech Republic
Coordinates: 50°13′44″N 14°53′26″E / 50.22889°N 14.89056°E / 50.22889; 14.89056
Country	Czech Republic
Region	Central Bohemian
District	Nymburk
First mentioned	1396
Government
• Mayor	Milan Pour (ANO)
Area
• Total	28.34 km^2 (10.94 sq mi)
Elevation	221 m (725 ft)
Population  (2023-01-01)^[1]
• Total	13,634
• Density	480/km^2 (1,200/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal codes	289 23, 289 24
Website	www.mesto-milovice.cz

In the 20th century, the history of the town was influenced by the presence of a military base. In the 21st century, Milovice is one of the fastest growing towns with the youngest population.

Administrative parts

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

Geography

Milovice is located about 11 kilometres (7 mi) northwest of Nymburk and 28 kilometres (17 mi) northeast of Prague. The western part of the municipal territory lies in the Jizera Table, the eastern part lies in the Central Elbe Table. The Mlynařice stream, a tributary of the Elbe, flows through the territory.

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]

Demographics

As of 2023, with an average age of 34.9 years, the town has one of the youngest populations in the country, and the youngest in category of the towns with over 10,000 inhabitants.^[1]

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1869 1,597 —     1880 1,882 +17.8% 1890 2,070 +10.0% 1900 1,911 −7.7% 1910 1,732 −9.4%	Year Pop. ±% 1921 2,868 +65.6% 1930 4,720 +64.6% 1950 5,878 +24.5% 1961 3,872 −34.1% 1970 2,747 −29.1%	Year Pop. ±% 1980 1,521 −44.6% 1991 1,330 −12.6% 2001 4,212 +216.7% 2011 10,140 +140.7% 2021 12,713 +25.4%
Source: Censuses^[5]^[6]

Culture

Since 2015, the Let It Roll festival is held at the former airfield for three days in August, with roughly 25,000 attendees. The festival is focused on electronic music, especially drum and bass and dubstep genres.^[7]

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.^[8]

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.^[9]

Mirakulum in Milovice is a family amusement park that is among the most visited tourist destinations in the Central Bohemian Region.^[10]

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.^[11] Other animals in the reserve include aurochs and European bisons.

In popular culture

Among the films shot in Milovice are Life and Extraordinary Adventures of Private Ivan Chonkin (1994),^[12] EuroTrip (2004),^[13] Red Tails (2012)^[14] and All Quiet on the Western Front (2022).^[15]

Twin towns – sister cities

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

Milovice is twinned with:^[16]

•   Kistarcsa, Hungary
•   Vynnyky, Ukraine

Gallery

•  

  Soviet base in 1984

•  

  Airport hangar 2013

•  

  Abandoned building

•  

  Italian military cemetery

•  

  Milovice Nature Reserve

References

1. "Population of Municipalities – 1 January 2023". Czech Statistical Office. 2023-05-23.
2. "Základní informace o městě" (in Czech). Město Milovice. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
3. "New science park in Milovice". Czech News Agency. 2014-03-18. Retrieved 2014-12-18.
4. Roberts, James. . 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. "Population Census 2021: Population by sex". Public Database. Czech Statistical Office. 2021-03-27.
7. Šmejdová, Ivana (2015-08-02). "Na monstrózní festival Let It Roll neproklouzla bez akreditace ani myš". Nymburský deník (in Czech). Retrieved 2023-06-08.
8. "Kostel sv. Kateřiny Alexandrijské" (in Czech). Město Milovice. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
9. "Mezinárodní vojenský hřbitov Milovice" (in Czech). Město Milovice. Retrieved 2021-07-05.
10. "Turisté mají v České republice nejraději zoologické zahrady, technické památky, koupání a Pražský hrad" (in Czech). CzechTourism. 2022-06-24. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
11. "Czechs import wild horses to save biodiversity". CBS News.
12. Hloušková, Lenka (2022-03-01). "Milan Býček: U Milovic jsem stavěl celou ruskou vesnici, včetně roubeného kostela" (in Czech). Novinky.cz. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
13. "Jak vidí Bratislavu zahraniční filmaři" (in Czech). TV Nova. 2008-10-10. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
14. "Red Tails" (in Czech). Czech Film Commission. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
15. Holakovský, Milan (2023-02-23). "Válečné scény z Milovic sbírají filmové ceny. Mají šanci i na Oscara" (in Czech). Deník.cz. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
16. "Partnerská města" (in Czech). Město Milovice. Retrieved 2022-05-03.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Milovice.

• Official website