The ancient city of Olomouc, which lies on the banks of the Morava River, began its written history in the 10
th century. During the last millennium, it has become the most valuable city in the Czech Republic after Prague in terms of monuments, and today is developing with unusual speed. Due to the wealth and skill of both its citizens and churches, it has preserved various architectural styles from several centuries in the form of its palaces and religious buildings. Olomouc is located in the middle of the extremely fertile Hana region, and therefore has always been the focus of both trade and the Church, which have significantly affected the growth of the city.
A bishopric was established here as early as 1063, and fifteen years later, the city's most famous monastery, Hradisko, was created. During the Counter-Reformation,
the Jesuits were invited to Olomouc by the Catholic Church. In 1573, they founded a university, which after Prague's Charles University, is the second-largest in the Czech Republic.
The dramatic events of the Thirty Years' War had extremely tragic results for Olomouc. The Swedish invasion almost completely devastated the
city. However, it recovered, began redeveloping, and later undertook many ostentatious church constructions.
The promising development of the city was again disturbed in 1741, when it was conquered by the Prussians. In order to provide strong defences against the Prussian threat, the monarchy in Vienna later established a fortress in Olomouc. The fortress demonstrated its usefulness in 1748, when it successfully defended the town against another Prussian invasion; however, this also had its disadvantages, as the walls and bastions cramped the town and limited further development. Even the promotion of the bishopric to archbishopric in 1777 - which substantially strengthened the prestige of the city - did not spur development. Afterwards, the revolutionary year of 1848 found the relatively quiet Olomouc playing temporary host to the Habsburg Court from Vienna, during which time Franz Joseph I. ascended to the Emperor's throne.
The termination of the city's role as fortress and the pulling down of its walls at the end of the 19
th century allowed for new growth, including that of its famous parks. Undeveloped industry within the city, which had previously been seen in a negative light, also demonstrated its good sides. Today, the old town of Olomouc still maintains its character, calm university-town atmosphere, quiet nooks and crannies that echo the past more than the present, and excellent historic monuments of which only few other cities can boast. Of those monuments, we can recommend the following:
the Cathedral of St. Wenceslas (New Gothic construction completed by G. Meretta and R. Volkel from 1883-1892; built on the original site of a church built between 1104-1107), the Romanesque Premyslid Palace (sits on the former sites of the bishopric and chapter of 1126-1150; housed a former cathedral school dating from the 13
th century; and designated a National Historic Landmark since 1962), the Chapel of St. Anna (built in 1617 on the site of a similar, 14
th century structure; election place of Olomouc' bishops, and since 1777, archbishops), and finally,
the Archbishop's Palace constructed between 1665-1685 (one of the most prestigious examples of palace construction), and others.
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