| Sobotka | |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| 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: | 50.4675°N 15.1764°W |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Lubor Jenček |
| Leader Party: | TOP 09 |
| Established Title: | First mentioned |
| Established Date: | 1322 |
| Area Total Km2: | 19.33 |
| Elevation M: | 305 |
| Population As Of: | 2024-01-01 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 2432 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone1: | CET |
| Utc Offset1: | +1 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | CEST |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | +2 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | 507 43 |
Sobotka (pronounced as /cs/) 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 by law as an urban monument zone.
The villages of Čálovice, Kdanice, Lavice, Spyšova, Staňkova Lhota, Stéblovice, Trní and Zajakury are administrative parts of Sobotka.
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.[2]
Sobotka is located about 13km (08miles) northwest of Jičín and 62km (39miles) northeast of Prague. It lies in the Jičín Uplands. The highest point is at 393m (1,289feet) above sea level. The northern part of the municipal territory lies in the Bohemian Paradise Protected Landscape Area.
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.[3]
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.[4]
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.[5]
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.[6]
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.[7]
There are several preserved buildings of folk architecture in the town. The most notable is Šolc Farmhouse, dating from 1811.[7]
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in the Czech Republic. Sobotka is twinned with:[8]
