Nachod

Nachod, a town of Bohemia, Austria, 109 m. E.N.E. of Prague by rail. Pop. (1900) 9899, mostly Czech. It is situated ,on the Mettau river, at the entrance of the Lewin-Nachod pass. The old castle contains a collection of historical paintings and archives, and there are several old churches, of which that of St Lawrence is mentioned as the parish church in 1350. The town originally gathered round the castle of Nachod, of which the first lord was a member of the powerful family of Hron, in the middle of the 13th century. It suffered much during the Hussite Wars, and in 1437 was captured by the celebrated robber knight Kolda of 2ampach, and retaken by George of Podebrad in 1456 and included in his estates. It was sold in 1623, and in 1634 given to Ottavio Piccolomini; finally, after many changes of ownership, the castle and titular lordship came in 1840 to the princes of Schaumburg-Lippe. The important engagements fought near the town on the 27th and 28th of June 1866 opened Bohemia to the victorious Prussians.