Liberec
Liberec is a city in the Czech Republic. Located on the Lusatian Neisse and surrounded by the Jizera Mountains and Ještěd-Kozákov Ridge, it is the fifth-largest city in the Czech Republic.
Its history goes back to the time when trade routes to Germany and Poland led through the location. As traders found crossing Ještědský hřeben too hard, it was necessary to set up a resting place. At that time Liberec used to be an open market village. The first notes on a town date back to 1352. In the first half of the 16th century it gradually changed into a vassal town. Liberec used to be the second biggest town in Bohemia. There were 3 consulates, 50 textile factories and 60 metalworking factories.
Nowadays Liberec offers various tourist attractions. The city boasts of numerous important buildings, such as the City Hall, F. X. Šalda Theatre, Museum of Northern Bohemia, Ještěd Viewing Tower, Babylon Leisure Centre and other cultural and historical sights. Liberec is also an ideal place for walks or hiking tours in its environs or in the Jizerské hory.
Liberec Region
Liberec Region is located in the northernmost part of its historical region of Bohemia. It is named after its capital Liberec. The region shares international borders with Germany and Poland. Domestically the region borders the Ústí nad Labem Region to the west, the Central Bohemian Region to the south and the Hradec Králové Region to the east.
The Liberec Region is home to 11 national cultural monuments including Bezděz Castle, Dlaskův statek in Dolánky u Turnova and the Ještěd Tower which transmits television signals as well as being a hotel. 2013 saw the proposal of an additional two sites to the list, those being a glass grinding plant in Harrachov dating from 1895 and the Janatův Mlýn watermill in Buřany, part of which remains from 1767. A Neolithic site dating to around 4,500 BC was uncovered in 2007 near the village of Příšovice. Lake Mácha near the town of Doksy is an important regional center for leisure, attracting around 30,000 visitors annually. The vicinity of the lake has a caravan park and hosts an annual music festival called Mácháč, which was attended by approximately 8,000 people in 2013.
The region is home to the public Technical University of Liberec, which was founded in 1953. The university, which originally specialized in Mechanical and Textile Engineering, added a further four faculties in the 1990s, namely those specializing in Education, Economy, Architecture, and Mechatronics.