ČESKÁ REPUBLIKA	CZECH REPUBLIC
Olomoucký kraj	Olomouc region
Okres: Olomouc

map →

Litovel (German: Littau) is situated at an elevation of 233 m on the river Morava, about 18 northwest of the district town and regional capital Olomouc. The town is situated in the centre of the Litovelské Pomoraví Protected Landscape Area, a floodplain of the Morava river. At Litovel the Morava is split into 6 separate arms and therefore the town is often nicknamend the Haná Venice (in Czech: Hanácké Benátky). The municipality of Litovel has a population of about 9,700 (2023).

The town was founded between 1252 and 1256 by Otakar II of Bohemia. The first written mention of Litovel is from 1287 (older documents have been proven to be forgeries). In 1327 it received the permission to build town walls. In the 16th century, the lords of Boskovice acquired the dominions but Litovel lost its statute of a royal town. In the early 17th century, Litovel was acquired by the House of Liechtenstein and lost its significance. The town was further affected by the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), during which was plundered by the Swedish army, and by plague epidemics. In 1850, Litovel became a district town and began to grow with the influx of inhabitants from the surroundings. The Czech population began to prevail over the German, and the town became a centre of Czech culture and education. At the beginning of the 20th century, trade and industry began to develop rapidly, and new factories for processing agricultural products were established. The district Litovel was merged into the district Olomouc in 1960.

The town hall [left, no. 4498: far left] was first built in the 15th century and was later modified in the Renaissance and Baroque styles in the 16th and 18th centuries. The central tower has a height of 65.4 metres.

The Marian Column [left, no. 4498: far right] was built in 1724 to commemorate the plague epidemic of 1714. It was created by the architect Václav Render and the sculptor Jan Sturmer. The column was renovated in 1889. It is protected as a cultural monument.

[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litovel, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litovel; https://www.ptejteseknihovny.cz/dotazy/okres-litovel; https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radnice_v_Litovli; https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mari%C3%A1nsk%C3%BD_sloup_(Litovel)]