Česká Lípa

History

Emblem

Administrative divisions

• Častolovice
• Česká Lípa
• Dobranov
• Dolní Libchava, joined on July 14, 1964
• Dubice; also comprising Robeč until 2007, which was canceled administratively.
• Heřmaničky
• Lada, joined on June 30, 1960
• Manušice
• Okřešice, joined on November 27, 1971
• Písečná
• Stará Lípa, joined on June 30, 1960
• Vítkov
• Vlčí Důl
• Žizníkov

  Economy

Monuments

Ecclesiastical Monuments

• Augustinian Monastery on Náměstí svobody, founded by Albrecht of Valdštejn in 1627, it took 150 years to complete. There used to be a school and printhouse. Today, among other things, the Homeland Museum and Gallery of the town of Česká Lípa is located here.
• * Loretan Chapel, built in 1698 in the monastery cloisters
• * All Saints Church, after construction of the monastery, completed in 1710
• Mary the Virgin's Birth Church on Palackého náměstí, originally a gothic church from the 14th century, reconstructed in baroque style between 1706 and 1710 by Josef Abondius.
• St. Maria Magdalene Church was built in gothic style in the middle of the 13th century but later damaged by Hussite and Lusatian armies. Jindřich Berka, brother-in-law of George of Poděbrady, had it repaired and reconstructed around 1460, and 30 years later it became a part of the provost seat. It was reconstructed in Late Gothic style in the 16th century.
• * Cistorian Provost, today Deanery—Roman Catholic Parish, is adjacent to the church and was completed in 1756,
• St. Cross Promotion Church, built in the second half of the 14th century, later reconstructed in Late Gothic style and even later in 1897 adjusted to neo-Gothic style by Josef Mocker.
• The Evangelic Church was built in 1927 and 1928 by local Protestants and taken over by the Czechoslovak Hussite Church in 1945.
• Mary the Virgin and Holy Trinity Column at T. G. Masaryk Square. Part by part built in 1683 after the plague pandemic which hit the town and surroundings in 1680.
• The place where a synagogue had stood until it was destroyed in 1938 by Nazis is marked with the historical memorial stone installed ceremonially in 2008.
• Nearby the Střelnice train stop and Střelnice bar and disco area there is an enclosed Jewish Cemetery.

  Other Monuments

• Lipý Water Castle was built in the 13th century by members of the ancestry of Ronovci who later called themselves the Lords of Lipá. In the beginning the construction was made of wood and was built by the Ploučnice river. The river's flow was later deflected. A guard tower of stone was built in the 14th century. It was captured by Hussites and Swedes and ceased in time. There was a sugar refinery inside in the 19th and beginning of the 20th century and the castle was finally demolished after 1945. In 1990 the town began a gradual reconstruction and organizes cultural events in its grounds. The contributory organization Lipý, Česká Lípa has been established by the town for the castle's management and a neighboring recently renovated historical exhibition of Centrum textilního tisku was given in its charge in February 2011.
• The Red House is in vicinity with the Lipý Castle and was built as a hunters' chateau by Jetřich Jiří Berka z Dubé in 1583. This building of Italian renaissance style is decorated outside with sgraffito and had been used for many purposes, such as a dye-house, a tavern, and a town museum branch in 1933. It is unused nowadays.
• The Neo-Renaissance Town Hall from 1823 was reconstructed in 1884 and is in use for its purpose at T. G. Masaryk Square downtown. Basements are built in Gothic style as the town hall had been standing here even in past times before several devastating fires. The building had partially served as a saving house, a court and by 1900 also as a museum branch.
• The fountain on T. G. Masaryk Square from 1837, fully functional in Summertime down to this day.
• Špičák Outlook Tower - Špičák hill at the north edge of the town has an elevation of 459 m above sea level, the highest point far and wide. A 14m outlook tower was built there in 1885 for a price of 5,000 guilders and two years later was partially burnt down. However, it was soon renovated and in 1906 only there were 2500 tourists written in its memorial book. It was used for anti-aircraft patrols in the Second World War and then began to cease. In 1997 it was renovated and converted into a radio and cellular phone networks transmitter, inaccessible to the general public. A blue hiking trail leads here from the town centre.

  Education

Culture

Cultural attractions

• The Crystal Culture Center contains a cinema, halls and a restaurant. An organization named Crystal Culture House was established by the town after 1990 to manage the center and organize summer events in Lipý Castle. The organization was renamed as Kultura Česká Lípa on 1 January 2011, and a new organization, Lipý Česká Lípa, was established, with responsibility for the castle and the nearby historic Textile Print Center, which opened on 16 February 2011. The center had also housed the Municipal Information Center before it was moved to the Town Hall.
• The Česká Lípa Art School was established in a building called the White House, which had housed the Communist Party District Committee until 1990. The large hall on the ground floor is the home of the Rainbow Dancing School, and the facility is also used for exhibitions and by other external music groups.
• The Homeland Museum and Gallery is located in the grounds of a former Augustinian Monastery. There is a permanent Animal World exhibition, and a Loretan courtyard which is used for temporary exhibitions. Other buildings, including a Loreta building, have art collections, and a chapel in the grounds is used for concerts. This museum has a regional character and features many objects related to the Česká Lípa District area. The museum also owns the Village Magistrate in the town of Kravaře, and the Karel Hynek Mácha Memorial in the town of Doksy including the Fisher and Pond Culture of Česká Lípa exhibition. It is also in charge of the Breda Summerhouse in the grounds of Lemberk Castle.
• There is a three-floor municipal library in T. G. Masaryk Square, which has three smaller branches in the Špičák, Lada, and Holy vrch districts of the town.

  Cultural events

• The town organizes the Municipal Summer Festival at the beginning of every summer. This event first took place in the town park in 2000, to celebrate the park's 125th anniversary, moving to T. G. Masaryk Square the following year. After Lipý Castle was renovated in 2003 the festival moved to its grounds, where it has been held since. The festival includes an antique fair, concerts, fireworks, and theater performances, and the Town Awards are presented.
• The first annual International Lípa Music Festival was held in 2000, primarily featuring classical music. By 2008 there were 10 locations in the Ústí nad Labem and Liberec regions organizing concerts. In Česká Lípa the opening and closing events of the festival are held in the All Saints Basilica, part of the Augustinian Monastery.
• The Reggae Ethnic Session music festival, featuring reggae, ska and world music, was established in 2000 in Žízníkov, an outer suburb of the town, and has since moved to a larger site in the nearby Heřmaňičky district.

  Local media

Sports

Hiking and cycle trails

• Cycling Path 3053 leads from Provodin and Sosnová in the south, through the town and northwards via Písečná, then to the towns of Nový Bor and Cvikov in the Lusatian Mountains.
• Cycling Path 3054 leads from Provodin, via Vlčí důl, through the town and northwards in the direction of Skalice and Nový Bor.
• Varhany cycling path is still under construction, a part of path 3054. Its first part from Českokamenická Street to Horní Libchava, 3.3 mi in length, was opened ceremonially on 23 June 2008. When completed, it will be 10.5 mi long, with the construction costing 17 million CZK.
• There is a network of hiking trails in the town and its surroundings, and a guide-post crossing at Bulharská St. leading to the main railway station. The nearest rambler destination is Peklo, a part of the E10 international route, going north-south through the town. The blue trail leads from Bulharská St. to Lake Mácha, and the yellow from trail 6960 to Holany Ponds.

Transport

Railways

• Route L4 - Railroad 080 Bakov – Česká Lípa – Rumburk, northwards bound
• Route L2 - Railroad 081 Česká Lípa – Děčín, westwards bound
• Route L2 - Railroad 086 Česká Lípa – Liberec, southeastwards bound then northeastwards bound
• Route U11 - Railroad 087 Česká Lípa – Lovosice, leads southwards

Bus Transport

Municipal transit

Road transport

Notable people

• Hugo Salus, doctor, writer and poet
• Leopold Moll, Austro-Hungarian paediatrician and court counsellor
• Erwin Sembach, opera singer
• Rudolf de la Vigne, footballer
• Angela Jursitzka, Austrian journalist and writer
• Petr Kellner, businessman
• Luboš Bartoň, basketball player

  Twin towns – sister cities

• Bardejov, Slovakia
• Bolesławiec, Poland
• Mittweida, Germany
• Molde, Norway
• Uzhhorod, Ukraine