MY TOWN / VILLAGE
I live with my parents and my brother in a small village K*** near N***. There live only about 50 people.
PLUSES AND MINUSES. I’d rather live in a city, because there are a lot of disadvantages when you live in the countryside. First of all, our village is so small, that there are no shops, no pubs and no cultural activities. Furthermore, we have to commute to school and the bus connection isn’t very good. Especially in winter is it very difficult. And, of course, everyone knows everything about everybody. But there are also many positives to living in a village. The best thing on living in the countryside is the nature. Moreover, you have the possibility of growing your own vegetables and fruit and having pets or raising farm animals. The town has also both advantages and disadvantages. One the puls side, there is a lot of cultural events and opportunities to do sports. Another point is that there is the variety of schools and educational opportunities. A city also functions as a centre for the villages which surround it. People come to the city from the countryside not only to buy clothes, shoes and food, but also to work or to study. On the other hand, life in the city is hectic, many people are in the hurry. It is worse during the rush hours in the morning and in the afternoon. It creates a lot of noise. That’s why many people like living in town and spending their weekends in the country – they can combinate advantages of both.
I will not talk about K***, because there is almost nothing to talk about, actually there’s only a pond close to the village. I’ll talk about Milevsko, because I spend there a lot of time.
BASIC INFO. Milevsko is situated in the Southern Bohemia near district towns Písek and Tábor. The town is situated in one of the most frequently visited summer leisure time areas. There are Orlik dam, Zvikov and Orlik castles within 15 km from Milevsko. Now Milevsko town has a population of 10000 people.
HISTORY. The town was founded in the 12th century. The first written report about this place proved the existence of the rich nobleman – George from Milevsko and that of the church of St. Giles. In this time the oldest Premonstaratensian monastery in South Bohemia was founded. There lived the Abbot-Jarloch, who wrote a lot of texts about the history of the Czech state in the second half of the 12th century. At this time the important transport route from Prague to Salzburg and Italy went through Milevsko. In 1420 the monastery was completely destroyed by the Hussites and then it was restored but its glory has never returned. The next development of Milevsko is very similar as in other little towns. That means: agriculture, traditional handicrafts like pottery or weaving. After World War I. Industry started to develop but the most important change was the construction of ZVVZ factory at the end of 40’s. It is the biggest producer and supplier of air conditioning devices. The was founded also a textile factory Jitex, but it doesn’t exist anymore.
SIGHTS. Although Milevsko is a small town, there are some interesting sights. The Premonstratensian Monastery is the oldest monastery of Bohemian south. It comes from the end of the 12th century. The regional museum is situated in there. The public can go to see about six occasional exhibitions every year, for example „History of Town Milevsko“ or „Visual Arts of 15th – 19th century“. A new tradition is „The Granite Symposium“. Every year in the middle of the summer sculptors from all over the world exhibit in the Bažantnice-park. Another interesting building is St. Gilles Church. It comes from Romanesque, but it was rebuilt in 14th century. There stands St. Bartholomew Church in the square. It was build in Pseudo-Romanesque. There is also a synagogue in Milevsko. It is the unique connection of Empire and Cubism. There are a lot building near the square. For example the Old Townhall No. 1. There are an information centre, a gallery, a bank and a public library with a lot of books, magazines and records situated in the building.
CULTURAL LIFE. Cultural life in Milevsko is concentrated round the Cultural House: there také place threatre performances, concerts and balls, which are attended by many people every year. There is also a cinema in Milevsko with attractive films every night. The most important custom of our town is a traditional fancy-dress parade at the Shrovetide time every year. There also are a lot of sporting facilities at present, there is a sports stadium, an ice-hockey stadium, the house of Sokol and a sports hall. The most popular sports in our city are ice-hockey, football and modern gymnastics.
SCHOOLS. There are two primary schools in Milevsko, a high school and a secundary school, which was restored the last summer.
SHOPS. There are also a lot of small shops and supermarkets in Milevsko. You can find there 4 supermarkets – Albert, Penny Market, Plus and Tesco. There was a possibility to build one more supermarket at the place where the bus station is, but there took place a referendum and the project was voted out.
I like about Milevsko that it isn’t a big town. It’s something between a villige and a city, but it isn’t as boring as a village and as noisy and dirty as a city. All things considered,, Milevsko is a very nice town.