Žirovnice

Žirovnice
Town
Žirovnice Castle and the Church of Saints Philip and James
Flag Coat of arms
Žirovnice Location in the Czech Republic
Coordinates: 49°15′20″N 15°11′29″E
Country	Czech Republic
Region	Vysočina
District	Pelhřimov
Area
• Total	44.4 km2 (17.1 sq mi)
Elevation	565 m (1,854 ft)
Population  (31.12.2013)
• Total	2,954
• Density	67/km2 (170/sq mi)
Website	www.zirovnice.cz

Žirovnice (Czech pronunciation: [ˈʒɪrovɲɪtsɛ]; German: Serownitz) is a town in the Vysočina Region, Czech Republic.

The town was built around a castle of the same name. First written account is from year 1358. Žirovnice was traditionally town of weavers, but in 1863, manufacturing of buttons from nacre was introduced. In 1940s, nearly 100 nacre-processing manufactures existed in the small town. After Communists seized power in 1948, these manufactures were nationalized and transformed into one company, which still exists. In castle Žirovnice there is a museum of button-manufacturing and nacre-processing.

The small river Žirovnička flows through the town. There are many historical buildings in the town - the Castle of Žirovnice, St. Filip's and St. Jakub's church and others. Žirovnice has 2954 inhabitants (at 31.12.2013). There is varied cultural life in the town. Every year the inhabitants celebrate the festival of Žirovnice's unicorn (the unicorn is the symbol of the town).

Twin towns — sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in the Czech Republic

Žirovnice is twinned with:

• Grosshöchstetten, Switzerland
• Trstená, Slovakia

External links

Media related to Žirovnice at Wikimedia Commons