Plzen

Plzeň occupies a singular place at the confluence of four rivers—the Mže, Úhlava, Úslava and Radbuza—whose union gives rise to the Berounka. Situated some seventy‐eight kilometres west of Prague, this city of approximately 188 000 inhabitants rises upon the rolling Plasy Uplands, its footprint extending into the Švihov Highlands to the east and south. The highest elevation within the municipal boundary crowns the hill Chlum at 416 m above sea level, while the Berounka’s riverbed lies at 293 m. To the north, a network of fishponds borders the city, and the České údolí Reservoir on the Radbuza marks its largest body of water. This geography has shaped both settlement and industry here for more than seven centuries.

Plzeň’s origins date to the late thirteenth century, when it was chartered as a royal city under the Přemyslid rulers. Positioned upon vital trade routes linking Bohemia with Bavaria, it swiftly flourished: by the mid‐fourteenth century it ranked as the third‐largest town in Bohemia. Its strategic importance, however, proved a two‐edged sword. During the Hussite Wars of the fifteenth century, Plzeň endured three sieges, emerging as a bastion of resistance to the reformist forces that convulsed the kingdom. A century later, in the early years of the Thirty Years’ War, the city again lay under siege before falling to imperial troops.

The nineteenth century ushered in another transformation. As Europe’s political contours shifted, Plzeň industrialized at remarkable speed. In 1869, Škoda Works was established, soon becoming one of the preeminent engineering firms of Austria‐Hungary and later of Czechoslovakia. Machine shops, foundries and rail workshops sprawled across the city, drawing labourers from rural districts and knitting Plzeň into the modern industrial economy. It was during this era, in 1842, that Bavarian brewer Josef Groll applied novel methods of brewing pale malt, producing the first “Pilsner” beer. Today, the Pilsner Urquell Brewery remains the nation’s largest, while its sister concern Gambrinus, founded in 1869, has also earned renown. Both brands now form part of the Asahi Group Holdings.

Beyond its industrial identity, Plzeň functions as the commercial core of West Bohemia. Though it contains just thirty per cent of the region’s population, it generates roughly two‐thirds of its GDP—an imbalance partly explained by daily commuters but largely reflecting the concentration of businesses, research institutes and service providers within the city. In 2015, Plzeň’s cultural legacy was recognized when it served as European Capital of Culture. Its urban centre, protected as a heritage zone, preserves an extraordinary ensemble of Baroque churches, Gothic cathedrals and Renaissance civic buildings.

At the heart of the old town stands St. Bartholomew’s Cathedral, its Gothic nave begun in the late thirteenth century and its tower soaring 102 m—the tallest church spire in the Czech Republic. Nearby, the Renaissance Town Hall (1554–59), attributed to the Italian architect Giovanni de Statia, presents an austere façade punctuated by ornate pilasters and arcaded loggias. Yet it is the Moorish Revival Great Synagogue, completed in 1893, that surprises most visitors: its horseshoe arches and polychrome brickwork form the second‐largest synagogue in Europe, surpassed only by Budapest’s Dohány Street Synagogue.

Beneath these landmarks lies another realm. Carved over centuries, Plzeň’s historical underground network extends some twenty kilometres, though only around 750 m of its tunnels, to depths of twelve metres, are open for guided tours. These vaulted cellars once housed breweries, merchants and municipal stores, offering a glimpse of how the medieval city balanced commerce and fortification. On the surface, the former water tower at Prague Gate—built in 1532 and later remodeled in French Imperial style (1822)—retains its original Gothic portal and bears a commemorative plaque to Dr. Josef Škoda, born next door in 1805, whose namesake enterprise would transform the city’s fortunes.

The rhythm of everyday life in Plzeň remains tied to watercourses and wheels of industry, but it also beats to the pulse of public transport. The Plzeň metropolitan area sustains a network of trams, trolleybuses and buses operated by PMDP. Tickets—purchased from vending machines, local shops or aboard vehicles via a contactless smart card—grant access across modes; for frequent travellers, the rechargeable Plzeň Card offers unlimited rides while valid. Beyond municipal transit, five principal rail lines intersect here: line 170 to Prague, Beroun and Cheb; 180 to Domažlice and Germany’s Furth im Wald; 183 to Klatovy and Železná Ruda; 160 to Žatec; and 190 to České Budějovice, all converging at Plzeň hlavní nádraží. Road travellers benefit from the D5 motorway, linking Prague with Nuremberg, while an airport at Líně, eleven kilometres to the southwest, handles domestic flights and private international traffic.

Climate in Plzeň is classified as oceanic (Cfb), marked by temperate summers and cool winters. Annual precipitation averages 525 mm, and the mean yearly temperature hovers at 8.4 °C. Extremes have ranged from −28.0 °C on 12 February 1985 to 40.1 °C on 27 July 1983, reminders of the region’s continental influences upon its oceanic baseline. These conditions support lush tree‐lined boulevards and the city’s many parks which encircle the historic core—a green belt prized by residents and visitors alike.

Civic life in Plzeň extends beyond commerce and culture into faith and community. Since 31 May 1993, the city has served as the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plzeň, covering 818 700 faithful across seventy‐two parishes within ten vicariates. The first bishop, František Radkovský, was followed by the current bishop, Tomáš Holub; their cathedral see resides in St. Bartholomew’s. Protestant traditions also flourish: the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren maintains its West Bohemian seniorate here, under Senior Miroslav Hamari of the Koranda congregation and churchwarden Josef Beneš; two further Brethren parishes serve Jižní předměstí and nearby Chrást. The city hosts the Plzeň diocese of the Czechoslovak Hussite Church, led by Bishop Filip Štojdl, albeit with the episcopal residence temporarily relocated to Mirovice. The Czech Evangelical Lutheran Church is headquartered here as well, its St. Paul’s Lutheran Church ministering to local congregants. Other confessions—Augsburg Confession Lutherans, Methodists, Seventh‐day Adventists, Brethren, Orthodox, Greek Catholics—contribute to Plzeň’s religious tapestry.

Museums and galleries underscore the city’s intellectual breadth. The West Bohemian Museum in Kopeckého sady provides rotating exhibits of archaeology, art and history, while its Municipal Armoury preserves firearms and armour from the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries. Nearby, the Ethnography Museum of the Pilsen Region chronicles rural customs, and the Brewery Museum traces local brewing from medieval monastic rights—bestowed by King Charles IV in 1375—to modern production. Techmania Science Center, housed within a former Škoda factory complex, invites interactive exploration of physics and engineering. Military history finds a home at the Patton Memorial Pilsen, dedicated to the U.S. Third Army’s liberation in May 1945. Lighter fare awaits at the Ghost Museum, with its folklore tableau, and the Puppet Museum, which celebrates Plzeň’s storied marionette tradition. The Diocese Museum, set in the Franciscan cloister, offers Gothic to Baroque sculpture, though its galleries are currently closed.

Art enthusiasts gather at the Pilsen City Art Gallery and its counterpart at Masné krámy (West Bohemian Art Gallery), alongside the Jiří Trnka Art Gallery, named for the famed local puppeteer and illustrator. Beyond the urban perimeter lies the Air Park in Nebřehovice, where an open‐air collection of some fifty aircraft recalls Plzeň’s aerospace connections.

To experience Plzeň is to savour both the ordinary and the extraordinary. A stroll through city parks reveals vistas of tiled roofs and church spires; climbing the stairway to the belfry at St. Bartholomew’s rewards one with sweeping panoramas of rooftops and river bends. In taverns near the Great Synagogue or along the Quai of the Radbuza, a glass of unfiltered Pilsner Urquell recalls the city’s brewing heritage. For those seeking a rare thrill, private firms like MiGFlug & Adventure offer the chance to pilot a jet fighter from a base near Plzeň—an experience that, while costly, underscores the city’s enduring link to speed and precision.

Sporting allegiance in Plzeň focuses on FC Viktoria Plzeň, whose championship side competes at Doosan Arena, a twelve‐thousand‐seat stadium a short walk from the Republic Square. Ice hockey aficionados follow HC Škoda Plzeň at the Logspeed CZ Arena, where the echoes of skates on ice resound each winter.

The city calendar reflects Plzeň’s layered past and dynamic present. Each May, around the anniversary of its liberation on 6 May 1945, the Liberation Festival fills streets with music and remembrance. Summer brings the Puppet Rock Festival—an outdoor convergence of music and puppetry in Plzen Plaza’s park during the last weekend of July—and, in early August, the In The Streets Festival, which stages theatre, dance and street performances upon scattered stages and the great platform of Republic Square. Autumn’s highlight arrives with Pilsner Fest each September, when the original brewery hosts beer enthusiasts in celebration of its founding in 1842.

In Plzeň, history and modernity intertwine. Gothic stone, Renaissance arches and Moorish ornament frame lanes alive with trams and scooters. Rivers meet, and in their confluence the city finds both commerce and congeniality. Here, the past is neither fossilized nor forgotten; it flows as surely as the Berounka toward new horizons.