Velké Meziříčí

	Velké Meziříčí
	Town
	Centre of the town from north with the two synagogues and the church
Flag	Coat of arms
	Name origin: "Large between the rivers"
	Nickname: Velmez, Medřič
Country	Czech Republic
Region	Vysočina
Landmark	Velké Meziříčí castle
Coordinates	Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Highest point	425 m
Area	40.66 km2 (15.7 sq mi)
Population	11,662 (2014)
First mentioned	1236
- Town privileges	1408
Mayor	Ing. František Bradáč
Postal code	594 01 to 594 41
	Location in the Czech Republic
	Website: [1]

Velké Meziříčí (Czech pronunciation: [ˈvɛlkɛː ˈmɛzɪr̝iːtʃiː]; German: Groß Meseritsch) is a town in the Vysočina Region, Czech Republic. It is situated under the original Gothic castle in a valley framed by the hills of the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands.

It is situated on the confluence of the Oslava and Balinka rivers near the Highway D1 with the Vysočina Bridge. The number of the local business subjects is 2095.

History

The first written records of the town come from the 12th century. The settlement obtained full town privileges in 1408 - the celebrations of the 600th anniversary of this event took place in 2008, including the publishing of a representative book; the rights were approved by the king of Bohemia Václav IV. in 1417. The historical centre was designated as conserved zone of sights where the castle (formerly a stronghold from the 12th century, which is very well preserved, and hosts, among other, The Museum of Roads and Highways), the Gothic St. Nicolas Church, an originally Gothic City Hall, the Renaissance Lutheran Grammar School, two Jewish Synagogues and partly preserved city walls with a gate are the most significant buildings. An independent Jewish community had been living in the city since the 17th century – a well-preserved Jewish graveyard with Baroque tombstones comes from the 17th century.

Until 1918, Groß Meseritsch - Velke Meziříčí (German name only before 1867) was part of the Austrian monarchy (Austria side after the compromise of 1867), head of the district with the same name, one of the 34 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in Moravia.^[1]