Zlonice combines baroque architectural heritage with museums, a specialist railway collection and a historic cemetery. If you are looking for a holiday apartment or other accommodation, you can plan your stay around whether you are especially interested in churches and monuments, Antonín Dvořák and his surroundings, or railway and landscape themes. The town’s history goes back a long way: Zlonice was first mentioned in writing in 1318 as a village with a church and fortress.
Baroque Architecture and Earlier Town History
The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was built between 1727 and 1735. It is a High Baroque building with a cruciform floor plan. Its construction dates and basic layout offer two specific ways to explore the church’s architecture: the dates place its construction in time, while the cruciform floor plan describes the layout of the building.
The Boží muka shrine, dating from 1700, stands in Pod Lipami Square. After 1968, it was moved to Zlonice from a site near the pilgrimage church of St Isidore in Budenice. Its history therefore includes both its year of origin and a later change of location. Another historical trace is Štáf Castle: around 1560, Václav Valkoun z Adlaru had it extensively remodelled as a family residence. The statue of Zlonický Onufrius may date back to the 17th century; it was restored in 2008.
Antonín Dvořák and Other Memorial Sites
The Antonín Dvořák Memorial is housed in a baroque hospital that was reconstructed and converted into a memorial in 1954. The exhibition is devoted to Dvořák’s life and work and displays items from his personal possessions. The neighbouring Varhaníkovna focuses on Antonín Liehmann, the Zlonice teacher of Antonín Dvořák. The two sites therefore highlight different subjects: Dvořák’s life and work, and the person of his teacher.
Eduard Ingriš is also associated with Zlonice. Since 1994, a memorial hall for Ingriš, who was born in Zlonice, has been housed in a former classroom in the Varhaníkovna. The different memorial sites each have their own focus, from Dvořák’s personal possessions to the commemoration of other notable local figures.
The Railway Museum and Its Collection
The Zlonice Railway Museum focuses in particular on sugar factory locomotives and the narrow-gauge railways of brickworks. The collection comprises around 200 exhibits and collection items, including six sugar factory locomotives dating from 1912 to 1955. Its themes therefore go beyond individual vehicles to cover two specific industrial uses of narrow-gauge railways. If you are planning to visit the museum or the Antonín Dvořák Memorial, check the current opening hours in advance.
The Cemetery and Themes of the Educational Trail
The Jewish cemetery in Zlonice has been documented in writing since 1703. The oldest surviving gravestones date from the second half of the 18th century. The cemetery lies about half a kilometre south-east of the square. A turn-off from the road between Zlonice and Beřovice leads to it along a farm track; check local path conditions before your visit.
The educational trail covers local history and geography as well as nature, landscape and natural monuments. Its subject matter therefore extends beyond architectural and museum history: nature, landscape and natural monuments are also included. When planning your stay, you can take these different themes into account when choosing accommodation and arranging your visits.
Discover more destinations: Kutrovice, Zichovec, Hradečno, Cvrčovice, Vrbičany, Velké Přítočno, Kladno, Podlešín
For the wider travel overview: Kladno District.
