Opatovec

Opatovec
Municipality
Chapel of Saint Wenceslaus
Flag Coat of arms
Opatovec Location in the Czech Republic
Coordinates: 49°48′19″N 16°28′49″E / 49.80528°N 16.48028°E / 49.80528; 16.48028
Country	Czech Republic
Region	Pardubice
District	Svitavy
First mentioned	1347
Area
• Total	7.08 km^2 (2.73 sq mi)
Elevation	438 m (1,437 ft)
Population  (2025-01-01)[1]
• Total	736
• Density	104/km^2 (269/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	568 02
Website	www.opatovec.cz

Opatovec (German: Überdörfel) is a municipality and village in Svitavy District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 700 inhabitants.

Geography

Opatovec is located about 5 kilometres (3 mi) north of Svitavy and 56 km (35 mi) southeast of Pardubice. It lies in the Svitavy Uplands. The highest point is the hill Na Rozcestí at 465 metres (1,526 ft) above sea level. There are two major fishponds in the municipality, Sychrovec (German: Sichlowitzer-Teich) and Pařez (German: Stöckel-Teich), supplied by the stream Mikulečský potok.

History

The first written mention of Opatovec is from 1347. In 1697, the municipality of Opatovec was created by merger of Opatovec with small hamlets of Košíře (German: Körber) and Český Lačnov (German: Böhmisch Lotschnau > nickname "Kitzig"). Stary Valdek (German: Alt Waldek) was added in 1950. Stary Valdek belonged to the village of Mikuleč (German: Nikl) until 1950. ^[2] Opatovec was inhabited exclusively by Germans until 1945. As a result of World War II, the residents were forced to leave their homes within an hour on June 29, 1945, and were expelled from their homeland.

Demographics

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1869 1,448 —     1880 1,313 −9.3% 1890 1,414 +7.7% 1900 1,379 −2.5% 1910 1,285 −6.8%	Year Pop. ±% 1921 1,130 −12.1% 1930 1,095 −3.1% 1950 675 −38.4% 1961 680 +0.7% 1970 653 −4.0%	Year Pop. ±% 1980 694 +6.3% 1991 624 −10.1% 2001 585 −6.2% 2011 639 +9.2% 2021 694 +8.6%
Source: Censuses[3][4]

Transport

Two first class roads passes through the municipality: the I/35 road (part of the European route E442, which replaces the unfinished section of the D35 motorway from Olomouc to the Hradec Králové Region, and the I/43 road from Svitavy to the Czech-Polish border.

Opatovec is located on the railway line heading from Česká Třebová to Svitavy and Letovice.^[5]

Sights

The main landmark of Opatovec is the Chapel of Saint Wenceslaus. It was built in the Baroque style in 1850. In Košíře, there is the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary from 1793.^[2]

References

1. "Population of Municipalities – 1 January 2025". Czech Statistical Office. 2025-05-16.
2. "Z historie obce" (in Czech). Obec Opatovec. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
3. "Historický lexikon obcí České republiky 1869–2011" (in Czech). Czech Statistical Office. 2015-12-21.
4. "Population Census 2021: Population by sex". Public Database. Czech Statistical Office. 2021-03-27.
5. "Detail stanice Opatovec" (in Czech). České dráhy. Retrieved 2023-06-27.

External links

• Official website