Starý Plzenec

Starý Plzenec (Czech pronunciation: [ˈstariː ˈpl̩zɛnɛts]; German: Altpilsen) is a town in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. Starý Plzenec is also the seat of the Municipality with Commissioned Local Authority within the Plzeň Municipality with Extended Competence.

History

The first mention of the settlement dates back to 976 when, according to Thietmar of Merseburg, Boleslaus II, Duke of Bohemia, defeated a Bavarian army below a local stronghold, then called Plzeň. The urban settlement below the castle evolved into an administrative and mercantile centre of western Bohemia, but this came to an end in 1295 when King Wenceslas II founded the new city of Plzeň in a more suitable location at the nearby confluence of the Mže and Radbuza rivers. The new city soon took over the functions of old Plzeň and became known as Nová Plzeň (New Plzeň), later simply as Plzeň, while the older settlement on the Úslava river was called Stará Plzeň (Old Plzeň) and since then, in a more recent variant, Starý Plzenec.