Kladruby nad Labem

Did You Know?

• The Elbe River forms the southern municipal border.
• The stream Strašovský potok flows through the municipality.
• Kladruby nad Labem lies about 20 km west of Pardubice.

History

The first written mention of Kladruby nad Labem dates to 1295, when it belonged to the Premonstratensian monastery at Litomyšl. In the second half of the 14th century it passed to the Cistercian Sedlec Abbey. Vilém II of Pernštejn acquired the village in 1500, and the Pernštejn family held it until 1560, when Emperor Ferdinand I purchased it. Emperor Rudolf II established the Imperial Stud in 1579 for breeding Spanish-blood ceremonial horses. After 1918, the stud came under state administration.

Sights

In 2019, the area around Kladruby nad Labem, designed in the 16th and 17th centuries for raising and schooling ceremonial carriage horses, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This landscape, which includes the Imperial Stud Farm, the villages of Kladruby nad Labem and Selmice, plus farmsteads, pastures, gardens, and waterways, is a notable example of the 18th-century ferme ornée style.