The story
The first written mention of Králův Dvůr is from 1394, when King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia was captured by Bohemian nobility here.
In the middle of the 13th century, King Wenceslaus I probably had a medieval court built here, which in 1585 was rebuilt into a Renaissance castle by the Lobkowicz family, who owned it for a time in the second half of the 16th century.
In 1850, municipalities of Králův Dvůr, Popovice, Karlova Huť a Křížatky were merged and created a single municipality. Králův Dvůr was joined to Beroun in 1980 as a housing and industrial suburb. In 1990, Králův Dvůr became an independent municipality again. In 2004, it became a town.
In 1988, the D5 motorway was built, splitting Králův Dvůr into two halves. Ironworks were decommissioned in the 1990s, significantly improving air pollution.
History of the municipal parts
The first written mention of Popovice is from 1266 when it was possessed by the Chotěšov Abbey. An iron smeltery was situated here, as well as iron mills powered by running water, which was fed by a system of ponds. Two ponds have been preserved – Měřák and Popovícký.
Karlova Huť was an iron smeltery established at the latest in the 1350s. In the 16th century, it was owned by the noble family of Karlové of Svárov, after which it got its name. In 1595, the very first blast furnace in Bohemia was built here. The settlement was mostly demolished in 1960 when the smeltery was expanded to iron works and cement plants were established. Although the classic blast furnace production ended here in the 1980s, the company's tradition continues to this day.
Počaply was first mentioned in 1253. The workers' colony for the nearby iron works was erected in 1905. In 1915, a monumental building of the primary school was built.
Křižatky was first mentioned in 1603. It was a small settlement situated in the hills, where blacksmiths from Karlova Huť lived. One hundred years later it no longer existed, but at the end of the 18th century it was restored again.
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The first written mention of Levín is from 1391.
Zahořany was first mentioned in 1525, and in 1980 was joined to Beroun. Between 1990 and 2002, Zahořany was an independent municipality, and on 1 January 2003, Zahořany joined Králův Dvůr.
From Wikipedia’s article on Králův Dvůr, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4