Turnov

Turnov is a town in Semily District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic, with about 15,000 inhabitants. It stands on the Jizera river in the Jičín Uplands, about 19 kilometres south of Liberec, and is a gateway to the Bohemian Paradise Protected Landscape Area. The town was founded around 1250 on a spur of rock above the river, and the first written mention comes from a deed of King Ottokar II in 1272. It is known for gemstone polishing and glass and jewellery craftsmanship, drawing on local Bohemian garnet, and it opened the first European technical school for processing gemstones, metals and jewellery in 1884; the school still exists as the Applied Arts Secondary School. The historic centre is protected as an urban monument zone, and Hrubý Rohozec Castle is a national cultural monument. A Jewish community was first documented in 1527 and officially ceased to exist in 1961.