České Budějovice is a statutory city and the administrative and
cultural metropolis of the South Bohemian Region. It is located in
the České Budějovice basin at the confluence of the Vltava and Malše
rivers, has a population of approximately 94,000 and houses a number
of historical monuments and museums. For them and the proximity of
other historically valuable places (Hluboká nad Vltavou, Český
Krumlov, Zlatá Koruna, Vyšší Brod, Třeboň, etc.) are a frequent
tourist destination. The city houses the University of South Bohemia
in České Budějovice and the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of
České Budějovice. The historic city center was declared a city
monument reserve on March 19, 1980.
Name
The name of the
town comes from the old settlement of Budivojovice. Over the ages,
the pronunciation and transcription of the name fluctuated slightly
(in the South Bohemian dialect it is called Budweis), the nickname
Czech began to appear during the Hussite wars, originally equally in
Czech and German (Böhmisch Budweis) and in a purely territorial
sense. However, from the middle of the 18th century, when national
tensions culminated and the name began to be taken from a national
point of view, there was a differentiation: while Czech continued to
use České Budějovice, the name was predominant among Budweis, ie
Budweis. . This situation persisted despite the fact that in 1920
the Czechoslovak authorities declared České Budějovice and Böhmisch
Budweis in German the official name of the town. During the
Protectorate, on the other hand, the only official name was Budweis
in German and Budějovice in Czech. The Latin name of the city is
Budvicium.