"Olomouc from then till now." Olomouc by Askla

The first mentions of Olomouc date back to the year 1017 when Moravia was joined to the Czech Premyslide state under leadership of the duke Bretislav. In the middle of the 13th century, the town was surrounded with city walls and declared officially founded. The 13th and 14th centuries were great building centuries, among others were the Town Hall and some churches built during that time.
King Wenceslas III was murdered when he in 1306 was preparing to start his campaign against Poland, ending the powerful Premyslid dynasty.
The second oldest university in the Czech Republic was founded here in 1576, only surpassed in age by the Charles University in Prague from 1357.
Jumping to the 17 century, Olomouc suffered a lot from the Thirty Years War since it was captured in 1642 by the Swedish army who stayed until 1650. By that time the population had dropped from ~30.000 down to only 2.000. But that wasn't enough, in the 18th century ths plague ravaged the town bringing it down on its knees once more.

Today Olomouc is the hometown for about 100.000 inhabitants.

Olomouc is nowadays perhaps best known for its astronomical clock, but there are many other sights to explore as well. Since the city is almost 1.000 years old there are many old buildings to admire if you like architecture.
Prague is known as the beautiful town of spires but Olomouc in fact have more of them!!

• In a nutshell:A beautiful town without the crowds of Prague.