Náchod

Náchod is a town of about 20,000 inhabitants in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic, set in the valley of the Metuje River at the northern tip of the Orlické Foothills, directly on the border with Poland. It lies about 31 kilometres northeast of Hradec Králové, and the name comes from an Old Czech word meaning a place of arrival, a reference to the land gate that once controlled the old trade route from Prague to the Kłodzko Land. A knight, Hron of Načeradec, founded a castle and a town beneath it in the mid-13th century; the first written mention is from 1254. The castle later passed through the hands of the Smiřický family, the Trčka of Lípa family, the Piccolomini and the Biron dukes of Courland, and it grew into a large fortress, today a national cultural monument. From 1882 a textile industry developed and the town was nicknamed the Manchester of the east. Border fortifications were built around it before the Second World War. Today tourism is important, the hospital is the largest employer, and the Primátor Brewery, founded in 1872, is a well known local business.