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Ostrava is the third largest city in the Czech Republic and the administrative center of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It is located at the confluence of the Ostravice, Oder and Opava rivers. Its history and growth have been largely affected by exploitation and further usage of ... more »
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Hotels Ostrava is the third largest city in the Czech Republic and the administrative center of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It is located at the confluence of the Ostravice, Oder and Opava rivers. Its history and growth have been largely affected by exploitation and further usage of the high quality black coal deposits discovered in the locality, giving the town a look of an industrial city and a nickname of the “steel heart of the republic” during the communist era of Czechoslovakia. Many of the heavy industry companies are being closed down or transformed nowadays.
Some of the largest Czech industrial concerns lie in the city of Ostrava. The Vítkovice steel works, located in the suburb of the same name near the city center, concentrates on metallurgy and machine engineering. It was established in 1828 and nowadays, after nearly two hundred years of existence, it is undergoing a major transformation. The oldest part of the concern, called "Dolní oblast" (the "Bottom area"), was closed down and there is an ongoing debate whether this area should be preserved and opened up as an industrial open-air museum or torn down. Nová hut (the "New Steel Works", established in 1951), now belongs to the international concern Mittal Steel, is another key metallurgical combine in Ostrava.
Contrary to the popular belief among Czechs, Ostrava is not a mining town anymore - all its mines have been closed down a short time after the Velvet revolution, due to unfavourable geological conditions which caused the mining to be uneconomic, and also in ex-mayor Evžen Tošenovský's drive to modernize the city's industries. Last mine car with coal was retrieved from mine Odra on June 30, 1994.
Things to do While Ostrava is usually not in the top ten list of tourist attractions of the Czech Republic, there are a number of interesting places to see and things to do there. To the north of the city center there is the Museum of mining (Hornické muzeum) presenting a unique collection of the coal mining machinery and equipment, a reconstruction of a mammoth hunters' settlement. Going down the shaft to see the 250m long underground corridors and an original mining gallery from the 19th century is also part of the exhibition.
Another attraction, which is becoming more and more popular mainly among young people, is the Stodolni street (Stodolní ulice). It is actually a bunch of streets just next to the center, full of bars, pubs and clubs, bringing night-life to the city and thousands of visitors all year long. There are currently around 60 places to have a drink or dance on this street, each of its own style and atmosphere. There are a few bigger actions at this street throughout the year, the largest of which is the Colours of Ostrava - a summer music festival hosting many musicians and groups from all over the world.
The New city hall viewing tower provides visitors a panoramic view of the city and surroundings from about 72 meters of height. During clear sky conditions the Beskids and Jeseniky mountain ranges are visible.
The Silesian Ostrava Castle is the city´s most historic cultural monument. Castle was built in the eighties and nineties of the 13th century. In 1534, the gothic castle was rebuilt into a renaissance chateaux. It was restored recently after many years of dilapidation, caused by mining coal under the castle. The castle is today one of the most important tourist atraction of the city. It will host a Colours of Ostrava 2006 music festival this year.
Railway came to Ostrava in 1847. It was Austrian Northern Railway, from Vienna – Breclav – Prerov, and it continued in the direction of Kraków. In 1855 was built line to Opava. Nowadays there are also lines in the directions of Frýdek-Místek – Valašské Mezirící and Havírov – Ceský Tešín.
Ostrava-Mošnov International Airport is about 30 minutes away from Ostrava by bus. Most visitors, though, arrive to the city by train from Prague, which takes about 3½ hours (by Pendolino trains), Brno (2½ hours), Olomouc (75 minutes). It is also relatively close from Vienna, Bratislava, Kraków and Warsaw. The D47 highway from Lipnik nad Becvou through Ostrava to the border with Poland is currently under construction. It is supposed to be finished about 2009. Nowadays, Ostrava still lacks a modern highway and visitors coming by car have to choose regional roads instead.
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Getting around the city itself is easy using the public transportation. Ostrava is one of the few Czech cities to have all the three types of public transportation common to Czech Republic: buses, trams, as well as trolleybuses.
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Ostrava was an important crossroads of prehistoric trading routes, namely the Amber Road. Archaeological finds have proved that the area around Ostrava has been permanently inhabited for 25,000 years. The town itself was founded in 1267. Until the late 18th century, Ostrava was a small provincial town with a population around one thousand inhabitants engaged in handicraft.
In 1763, large deposits of black coal were discovered, leading to an industrial boom and a flood of new immigrants in the following centuries. During the 19th century, several mine towers were raised in and around the city and the first steel works were established. Industrial growth was made possible by the completion of Kaiser-Ferdinands-Nordbahn from Vienna in 1847. The 20th century saw further industrial expansion of the city accompanied by an increase in population and the quality of civic services and culture. However, during World War II, Ostrava - as an important source of steel for the army industry - suffered several massive bombing campaigns bringing large amounts of damage to the city.
Since the Velvet revolution in 1989 the city is going through big changes. A thorough restructuring of industry is taking place - coal mining in the area of the city was stopped in 1994 and a large part of the Vítkovice ironworks near the city center was closed down in 1998, both improving the environment dramatically, although the Mittal Steel plant (ex-Nová Hut) continues to heavily pollute the Radvanice district.
* Ostrava is located in the north-eastern tip of the Czech Republic, very close to the Polish (15km) and Slovak (55km) borders. It spreads over the northern part of the natural north-south valley called the Moravian gate (Moravská brána) with the average elevation of around 210m above sea level.
The local climate is temperate with warm summers and cold, cloudy, humid winters. Due to the easterly position of the city the continental climate influences are slightly more prominent compared to the rest of the country. The yearly average temperature is 8.6°C (January: -2.4°, July: 17.8°), the yearly rainfall is around 600mm.
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* This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Source wikipedia.
