| Valdice | |
| Settlement Type: | Municipality |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Hradec Králové |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Jičín |
| Pushpin Map: | Czech Republic |
| Pushpin Relief: | 1 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in the Czech Republic |
| Coordinates: | 50.455°N 15.385°W |
| Established Title: | Founded |
| Established Date: | 1627 |
| Area Total Km2: | 0.92 |
| Elevation M: | 308 |
| Population As Of: | 2024-01-01 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 1305 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone1: | CET |
| Utc Offset1: | +1 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | CEST |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 507 11 |
Valdice (until 1950 Kartouzy-Valdice) is a municipality and village in Jičín District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,300 inhabitants. It is known for a former monastery, which is today a high-security prison.
Valdice was named after the nearby deer park (from German Wald, meaning "forest"). It was also called Kartouzy after the local monastery.[2]
Valdice is located about 2km (01miles) northeast of Jičín and 41km (25miles) northwest of Hradec Králové. It lies in the Jičín Uplands.
The village of Valdice was founded together with a Carthusian monastery by Albrecht von Wallenstein in 1627. About 20 houses were built for craftsmen working for the monks in the monastery. In 1782, the monastery was abolished by Emperor Joseph II. The prison in the premises of the former monastery was established in 1857 by Austrian Empire.[2]
The Valdice Prison is the main employer in Valdice. It is classified as a high-security prison with a capacity of 1,023 prisoners. The prison employs more than 400 people.[3]
The railway line Hradec Králové–Turnov passes through the municipality, but there is no train station. The municipality is served by the Jičín zastávka station in neighbouring Jičín.[4]
The prison is located in the former Carthusian monastery, which was built in the Baroque style. Its premises are inaccessible. In the monastery complex there is also the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.[2]
A cultural monument is the Baroque statue of Saint John of Nepomuk from 1696.[2]