Pilsen was first mentioned in written sources in 976, as a castle and the site of a battle between Boleslaus II and Emperor Otto II. In 1295, it was granted a city charter and quickly developed into the third-largest town in Bohemia. It was the centre of Catholic resistance during the Hussite Wars, and fought off three Hussite sieges. The first Czech book was printed in Pilsen in 1468. A fire devastated the town in 1507. Emperor Rudolf II moved his court from Prague to Pilsen between 1599 and 1600, making the city a temporary capital. A plague epidemic hit the city three times in the second half of the 17th Century. The first theatre performance in Bohemia took place in Pilsen in 1818. In 1917, a munitions factory exploded, killing 300 workers. Nazi forces occupied Bohemia in 1938, and the subsequent air raids left much of the city in ruins. Pilsen was liberated from the Nazis by Patton’s 3rd Army.

Today, Pilsen is a major industrial and academic centre which attracts many foreign companies that decide to base their production there. The most prominent factory is, of course, Škoda Works. Founded by Emil Škoda in 1899, it was the largest enterprise in Austro-Hungary and later in Czechoslovakia. It produced heavy guns, locomotives, ships, aircraft, machines and equipment.

When in Pilsen, you should definitely visit the historical city centre, which has been  restored with care. It is dominated by the slender tower of the St Bartholomew Cathedral, which rises 102 metres above the ground and is the tallest church spire in Bohemia. The Gothic church was built between the 13th and the 16th Centuries. Its altar is adorned by the famous Pilsen Madonna, the work of a 15th-century local artist. The town hall rises in the central square. Badly damaged by the fire in 1507, it was later reconstructed into a splendid Renaissance residence. Once you get inside, you will see vaulted ceilings and an imposing staircase. Also worth seeing is the Plague Column in the square. This work of Kristian Widman (1681) was commissioned by the citizens of Pilsen in memory of the 1680 plague. To the left of the town hall is the Emperor’s House, which used to be a residence for Rudolf II; a Renaissance building adorned by a statue of Roland, transferred there from a Baroque fountain.