The Poleň village is situated in the southwestern part of Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

 in the middle of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

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On the date 2008-12-31 there were 295 inhabitants (in all of its parts). There are seven parts of the Municipality of Poleň: villages Poleň, Mlýnec, Poleňka, Pušperk and Zdeslav and the settlements Čekanice and Liška.

Geography

This place lies in 458 metres above sea level in the valley of the Poleňka Stream. From the eastern and souththern side bordered with the Bítovy mountains with the peaks Doubrava (727 m), Malý Bítov (668 m) and Velký Bítov (713 m).

The nearest neighbours of Poleň are Pušperk, Poleňka and Slatina on North, Drslavice on East, Mlýnec and Zdeslav on Southwest and Černíkov on West.

History

The first written reference about the village comes from 1245. . In the sheet which illustrates the disposal of Újezd Přeštický to Monastery of Kladruby by Queen Kunhuta, Blažej ze Švihova, the son of Budivoj of Švihov as an approver has been mentioned. Afterwards when the Pušperk Castle (originally known as Fuchsberg) had been built close to Poleň, the village was sharing the destiny of this castle for centuries.

The progress of the number of inhabitants in Poleň and in their parts

Year	Poleň	Poleňka	Mlýnec	Zdeslav
1948	400	51	123	102
1970	254	57	74	92
1980	168	42	59	81

Sights

• Kostel svaté Markéty - the Church of Saint Margaret, the ruines
• Kostel Všech svatých - the Church of All the Saints, altarpiece of Madonna with Child inside
• Kaple svatého Salvátora - the Chapel of Saint Salvador
• Vodní mlýn Pasička - the Watermill Pasička
• Fara - the Manse

Literature

• HOSTAŠ, Karel, KOTÁB, Adolf (edd.), Pamětní kniha městečka Poleně, manuscript, not published
• ŠORM, Antonín. Pověsti o českých zvonech. Praha: V. Kotrba, 1926.
• JIRÁK, Jan, OÚ POLEŃ. Poleň: 750 let obce. Klatovy: Arkáda, 2004.

External links

• turistik.cz – Photogallery on Turistik.cz
• risy.cz – Statistical data - Regionální informační servis
• Poleň, Czech - Facebook.com – Poleň Facebook group