Babice (Prachatice District)

Babice
Municipality
Centre of Babice
Flag Coat of arms
Babice Location in the Czech Republic
Coordinates: 49°1′29″N 14°14′15″E / 49.02472°N 14.23750°E / 49.02472; 14.23750
Country	Czech Republic
Region	South Bohemian
District	Prachatice
First mentioned	1259
Area
• Total	5.80 km^2 (2.24 sq mi)
Elevation	447 m (1,467 ft)
Population  (2025-01-01)[1]
• Total	160
• Density	28/km^2 (71/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	384 11
Website	www.babicept.cz

Babice (German: Bowitz) is a municipality and village in Prachatice District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 200 inhabitants.

Administrative division

Babice consists of two municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census):^[2]

• Babice (103)
• Zvěřetice (31)

Etymology

The name is derived from the surname Bába, meaning "the village of Bába's people".^[3]

Geography

Babice is located about 17 kilometres (11 mi) east of Prachatice and 17 km (11 mi) west of České Budějovice. It lies in the Bohemian Forest Foothills. The highest point is at 503 m (1,650 ft) above sea level. The stream Lužický potok flows through the municipality. The stream and its nameless tributary supply a system of several small fishponds here.

History

The first written mention of Babice is from 1259. The village belonged to the Poděhusy estate until the destruction of the Poděhusy Castle in 1421. Between 1421 and 1503, Babice was a part of the Helfenburk estate. From 1503 until the establishment of a sovereign municipality in 1850, it belonged to the Krumlov estate. Between 1967 and 1991, Babice was a municipal part of Chvalovice (until 1976) and then Lužice, but then it regained its independence.^[4]

Demographics

Historical population
Year Pop. ±% 1869 295 —     1880 316 +7.1% 1890 269 −14.9% 1900 253 −5.9% 1910 271 +7.1%	Year Pop. ±% 1921 276 +1.8% 1930 254 −8.0% 1950 160 −37.0% 1961 143 −10.6% 1970 117 −18.2%	Year Pop. ±% 1980 65 −44.4% 1991 62 −4.6% 2001 78 +25.8% 2011 88 +12.8% 2021 134 +52.3%
Source: Censuses[5][6]

Transport

There are no railways or major roads passing through the municipality.

Sights

Folk architecture in Zvěřetice

A notable technical monument in Babice is a substation from 1929. It is a testament to the beginnings of electrification of the Czech countryside, and at the same time it is a valuable architectural element.^[7]

The village of Zvěřetice is protected as a village monument zone. The reason for the protection is the preserved historical farmsteads decorated with elements in the Folk Baroque and Neoclassical styles, typical of regional folk architecture. The main landmark of the village is the Chapel of Saint John of Nepomuk, a Neoclassical chapel from 1820.^[8]

References

1. "Population of Municipalities – 1 January 2025". Czech Statistical Office. 2025-05-16.
2. "Public Census 2021 – basic data". Public Database (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. 2022.
3. Profous, Antonín (1947). Místní jména v Čechách I: A–H (in Czech). pp. 22–23.
4. "Historie obce" (in Czech). Obec Babice. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
5. "Historický lexikon obcí České republiky 1869–2011" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. 2015-12-21.
6. "Population Census 2021: Population by sex". Public Database. Czech Statistical Office. 2021-03-27.
7. "Trafostanice" (in Czech). National Heritage Institute. Retrieved 2025-09-25.
8. "Zvěřetice" (in Czech). National Heritage Institute. Retrieved 2025-09-25.

External links

• Official website