Plzen area

Plzeň is the center of this region. It is the fourth largest city in the Czech Republic. You can visit the historic Downtown, which is an architectural reserve, the Brewing Museum with beer tasting, the Plzeň historic underground that is publicly accessible, the episcopal gothic Cathedral of St. Bartoloměj, which has the highest church tower in the Czech Republic, it is 102 meters in height. There is a Large Synagogue here. This Jewish religious monument is the largest synagogue in the CzechRepublic, the second largest in Europe, and the third largest in the world. Children will be glad to visit the zoological garden and its current Dinopark with the models of dinosaurs of life-size dimensions. An area is also interconnected with the botanical garden. Probably the most renowned commodity that had made the city famous is the Pilsner Urquell beer. Thanks to modern technologies, old recipes and extensive basements for beer ripening, the "Pilsner Beer" has become one of the mostpopular beers worldwide. Aside from the beer-brewing tradition, the city of Plzeň also has a strong engineering base, primarily thanks to the Škoda factories, which had made the Czech engineering the well known literally worldwide.

We can start a tour of the Plzeň region in the north. A religious area called Mariánská Týnice is located next to the town of Kralovice. It is the unique religious object that houses the Museum and the Gallery of Northern District of Plzeň. A verybeautiful nature in this region seduces to the bicycle trips. The romantic spots here are created by the river called Střela, which also flows through the town of Plasy. Plasy is probably the most well known for its Cistercian cloister, which had been constructed in the swamp on the thousands of oak poles. An interesting feature is for instance the fact that drying up of the swamp in the recent era had to be interrupted because the drying wood started to loose its rigidity and therefore couldendanger the statics of the cloister. The monumental ruin of the Krašov castle is located above the Střela river. The manor in Manětín is called a Pearl of the Western Bohemia Baroque and it is decorated with sculptures and paintings. The covered corridor connects it to the gothic Church of St. Jan Křtitel.

A town of Zbiroh is located to the east of Plzeň. The manor was made publicly accessible again in 2005. A town of Rokycany is located in the south direction from Zbiroh. Theformer county capital has many interesting features. It features the publicly accessible observatory, the Museum of Dr. B. Horák with permanent exhibitions aimed at living and ferrous metallurgy, and the Military Museum and Military Museum Club on the demarcation line in Rokycany for the supporters of military history. Local exhibitions are primarily aimed at the vehicles, military technology, armaments and accoutrements or the Czechoslovak Army until 1938. There is an important technicalmonument called Vodní hamr Dobřív in the southeast direction from Rokycany. The region to the south from Rokycany is really prolific. We can find a renaissance manor decorated with sgraffiti in Spálené Poříčí that features an exhibition of the rural life of the beginning of the 19th century. Just a few kilometers away, there is a renaissance manor in Blovice, which is an extensive compound with the English park and the museum exhibition. Another symbol of history is the Kozel manor withthe rich interiors and with the extensive park featuring the rare woody species. We can visit a ruin of the original castle of Radyně with a lookout tower near the town of Starý Plzenec, which became especially famous for its brand of Bohemia Sekt wine. Today it is a landmark of this part of the region. We can find the beautiful interiors and the exhibition of the Venetian chandeliers in the baroque manor of Nebílovy.

The town of Nepomuk is located approximately 30 km in thesoutheast direction of Plzeň; it is the birthplace of St. Jan Nepomucký. Aside from the City Museum exhibition, you can also visit the manor of Zelená Hora. Chanovice is located further to the southeast. We can visit the local small manor with a spacious park, or the Outdoor Museum of Folk Architecture featuring the several restored objects. Part of the original ghetto in Kasejovice with the museum in the original synagogue and its Jewish cemetery is a commemoration of the large Jewishcommunity in Western Bohemia. There is a baroque manor with a fisherman’s museum in the town of Lnáře, and if you like to continue in the direction of Southern Bohemia, you should not miss the town of Blatná, where another very beautiful manor is located.

We will now leave this undoubtedly interesting part of the Plzeň region and we will continue visiting the Western Bohemia towns of Stod, Nýřany and Stříbro. Between the towns of Dobřany and Stod and the village ofChotěšov, the place of pilgrimage called Křížový vrch (487 m) is located; it features a small church and a lookout tower. In addition to the remains of the fortification, we can also find here the Minorite cloister, which is home of the City Museum and of the Information Center. You will find some rest in the park, next to the sculpture of the 13th Meridian passing through the town. Hracholusky, the most important recreational water reservoir of the entire region, begins in the town ofStříbro. The water reservoir surroundings and the hilly countryside offer many beautiful places for rest.

The Plzeň region is an area of the rich cultural and historical tradition, and it is easily accessible by transportation means thanks to its advantageous location. City of Plzeň has very advanced services available, as well as a number of top-quality restaurants, entertainment clubs and entertainment centers. Should you be visiting the Plzeň region, you must not miss the otherlocal specialties in addition to the beer, like the wine brand of Bohemia Sekt or the Fernet Stock herb liquor. The area will sufficiently satisfy the individuals interested in the active accommodation and rural tourism, and it can be a perfect host to its visitors.