Ostrava is a city located in the east of the Czech Republic, it is a fairly new city compared to the rest of the biggest cities in Europe. Regardless, it quickly grew to have great importance in its strategically important Central Europe location, which is further increased by the fact that Ostrava happens to be the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region.
Many people have not heard of this city, regardless it is a great idea to travel to the city of Ostrava, Czech Republic and in this article, we are going to be opening your eyes to this gem located in the middle of Europe.
Population of Ostrava.
Ostrava is the third most populated city in the Czech Republic, with the city of Brno and the Czech capital of Prague. Ostrava is the biggest city in terms of population in the north of the Czech Republic. This city is known as a conurbation, which is a city that has come in existence following the merger of several separate towns that over time became so big that they grew into each other and became one city.
The city of Ostrava had key economic importance as it is located on the Ostravice River which the city happens to be named after, the river runs straight through the city of Ostrava splitting it into parts.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, this city gained economic importance for another reason which is the extensive coal and metal reserves that were founded in the surrounding areas of the city which saw the creation of mines as well as manufacturing plants for those raw materials that attracted tens of thousands of immigrants from the rest of Czechia.
Notable People Born in Ostrava.
A famous Israeli artist called Yehuda Bacon traces his originates from the city of Ostrava, after being one of the very few survivors of the Holocaust, Bacon went on to become a prominent artist who helped to raise awareness of what went on during the Holocaust as well as help to create a legacy for the future that will help prevent future events such as this from happening again.
Another notable person from Ostrava is Erhard Karkoschka who is a German conductor and composer that has contributed considerably to the music world by writing a considerable amount of thesis on the topic of writing vocal notes which he wrote in German, Japanese and English, but has gone on to be translated in hundreds of other languages.
Karkoschka was also a lecturer at the University of Hohenheim. Furthermore, you have Simona Podesvova who is a professional female basketball player that has played for major clubs in Europe and has won the Icelandic Basketball championship.
The History of Ostrava.
Ostrava started out as a small village on the Ostravice River with the city originally being called Silesian Ostrava due to it being located in the Moravian-Silesian Province.
Since then, it has been under the control of various Germanic nation-states as well as being part of the Holy Roman Empire, which was a loose union of states throughout Central and Western Europe which aimed to re-create the Roman Empire with a heavy emphasis on Catholicism.
A surprising fact is that in the 16th century, Ostrava was occupied by Sweden during the Thirty Years War which was a religious war between Catholics and Protestants nations in Europe.
After the Second World War, Ostrava saw its biggest boom with massive investment in social housing which attracted people from all over Czechia and also ethnic Czechs from Poland, Germany, and what is now Slovakia.
Geography of Ostrava.
A good reason to travel to the city of Ostrava, Czech Republic is the unique geography that it is home to. The city is well known for its lush planes and fertile agriculture grounds which is mainly thanks to the many reasons that run through and around Ostrava, although the river of Ostravice is the biggest and most important on to the city of Ostrava, there are actually other big rivers that meet in or near the city. Those rivers are the Odra, the river Lucina and also the Opava River.
Ostrava is located in what is known as the Moravian Gate, which is a naturally occurring geographic feature where part of the land is much higher than the land on the other side which is caused by hundreds of thousands of years of erosion caused by the rivers.
It is a very interesting phenomenon that is worth seeing since it is only found in a few other places around the world.
Culture of Ostrava.
For a city of less than a million people, Ostrava is the birthplace and the origins of many notable people involved in the music industry, theater, writing, and the movie industry.
One of the main reasons for this is how valued the arts are in the local Ostravian Culture are, with many old theaters such as the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre that was opened in 1907 and to this remains one of the most popular performance venue in the city as well as being in the top 10 best theaters in all of Czechia.
Apart from the arts, there are many notable museums that will help visitors get a better understanding of the unique culture that is present in Ostrava, the biggest such museum is the Ostrava City Museum which is located in the center of the city and showcases timeless pieces of the history, and society that lived there are the time.
There are also other more unique museums such as the Toy Museum, the Railway Museum as well as the Firefighting Museum.
Religion in Ostrava.
Religion is a very important part of the very fabric that makes what the city of Ostrava is today, like most of Europe, this city has a very long history of Christianity. Due to the fact that Ostrava was founded just in the 13th century, it has always been a Christian majority city, with the biggest Christian denomination in Ostrava being Roman Catholic.
Throughout history, churches and other types of religious buildings have been a key place in the city and often have been a status symbol with no expenses being spared in the design, material used, and the enormity of the task.
Some of the best churches to have a look at are the Church of Ostrava which is known for its two peaks that give it a distinct look, the Church of Cyril and Methodius which are two saints that created the Cyrillic alphabet in First Bulgarian Empire with this writing system still shaping what the Czech language is today and also the Cathedral of the Divine Saviour which is one of the biggest religious buildings in all of Ostrava.
Renowned Architecture of Ostrava.
A further reason to book a visit to the city of Ostrava, Czech Republic is the many different styles of architecture that it is home to, the architecture that is present in Ostrava are located in specially created protected cultural zones which essentially prohibit the change of the buildings look as well as the demolition of those buildings.
You have old architecture that is mainly preserved in the forms of churches such as the Cathedral of the Divine Saviour and also the Church of St. Wenceslaus I. Alternatively, there is more modern architecture that was built during the 19th and 20th centuries and is heavily influenced by German.
And also Dutch architecture that is renowned for its bright-colored buildings and there is also the Soviet parts of the city that are heavily influenced by the Soviet Union since the Czech Republic which was then part of the Czechoslovakian Union was a Soviet satellite state. Through the architecture of the city, you are able to see the different eras that the city of Ostrava has gone through.
Read the article: Wonderful Trip To The City Of Brno, Czech Republic
