Sobotka

This article is about the town in the Czech Republic. For other uses, see Sobotka (disambiguation).

Sobotka (Czech pronunciation: [ˈsobotka]) is a town in Jičín District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,400 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone.

Sobotka
Town
Aerial view of the historic centre
Flag Coat of arms
Sobotka Location in the Czech Republic
Coordinates: 50°28′3″N 15°10′35″E
Country	Czech Republic
Region	Hradec Králové
District	Jičín
First mentioned	1322
Government
• Mayor	Lubor Jenček (TOP 09)
Area
• Total	19.33 km2 (7.46 sq mi)
Elevation	305 m (1,001 ft)
Population  (2025-01-01)[1]
• Total	2,400
• Density	120/km2 (320/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	507 43
Website	www.sobotka.cz

Administrative division

Sobotka consists of nine municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census):^[2]

• Sobotka (1,986)
• Čálovice (48)
• Kdanice (49)
• Lavice (23)
• Spyšova (44)
• Staňkova Lhota (74)
• Stéblovice (28)
• Trní (14)
• Zajakury (34)

Etymology

There are two theories about the origin of the name. Either it was derived from the Czech word sobota (i.e. 'Saturday') because the settlement was granted the right to hold markets on Saturdays, or from the relatively common Czech surname Sobotka.^[3]

Geography

Sobotka is located about 13 kilometres (8 mi) northwest of Jičín and 62 km (39 mi) northeast of Prague. It lies in the Jičín Uplands. The highest point is at 393 m (1,289 ft) above sea level. The northern part of the municipal territory lies in the Bohemian Paradise Protected Landscape Area.

History

View of Sobotka from the north

The first written mention of Sobotka is from 1322. For centuries, it belonged to the Kost Castle estate. In 1498, Sobotka was promoted to a town by Vladislaus II. The development of the town was hampered by frequent fires, the biggest ones were in 1710, 1746 and 1825. In 1903, the railway was put into operation, but it did not bring an economic boom to the town.^[4]

Demographics

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1869 3,642 —     1880 3,642 +0.0% 1890 3,395 −6.8% 1900 3,381 −0.4% 1910 3,450 +2.0%	Year Pop. ±% 1921 3,254 −5.7% 1930 3,098 −4.8% 1950 2,554 −17.6% 1961 2,568 +0.5% 1970 2,451 −4.6%	Year Pop. ±% 1980 2,365 −3.5% 1991 2,287 −3.3% 2001 2,289 +0.1% 2011 2,413 +5.4% 2021 2,300 −4.7%
Source: Censuses[5][6]

Transport

Míru Square

The I/16 road (the section from Mladá Boleslav to Jičín) runs south of the town.

Sobotka is located on the railway line Mladá Boleslav–Mladějov.^[7]

Culture

Since 1957, Sobotka hosts an annual festival of Czech language, speech and literature called Šrámkova Sobotka. The festival is named after the most famous local native, writer Fráňa Šrámek.^[8]

Sights

Humprecht Castle

Church of Saint Mary Magdalene

The most valuable building is the Humprecht Castle, a national cultural monument. It was built for Humprecht Jan Czernin by Italian architect Carlo Lurago in 1666–1668, as a summer house and hunting castle. It has atypical elliptical shape of its floor plan. In 1678, it was damaged by a fire, and in 1680, it was repaired and increased by one floor. Its appearance has not changed since then.^[9]

The historic centre is formed by Míru Square. It is known for preserved burgher houses and former town hall. Behind the square there is the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene. It was built in the late Gothic style in 1590–1596 and replaced an old wooden church from the 14th century. It has late Baroque interiors.^[10]

There are several preserved buildings of folk architecture in the town. The most notable is Šolc Farmhouse, dating from 1811.^[10]

Notable people

• Fráňa Šrámek (1877–1952), writer

Twin towns – sister cities

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

Sobotka is twinned with:^[11]

• Sobótka, Poland
• Wadern, Germany