Discover Žiželice on the Cidlina

Žiželice lies on the Cidlina in a flat, gently rolling landscape. Its history, buildings and riverside location give the town a variety of aspects. A cycling route also passes through Žiželice. Those considering the town as a travel destination can use these specific features as points of reference—from its early history to the landscapes around the Cidlina.

Local History and Museum

The Žiželice Museum is located on the ground floor of the historic town hall. The master mason Martin Sobota from Žiželice built the town hall after the great fire of 1800. The museum building itself is therefore connected with a major turning point in the town’s history.

The permanent local history exhibition covers the history of the town and explores its links with the history of Hradišťský hrad Castle. The castle stood on a promontory on the Cidlina at Hradišťko. The museum thus connects the town’s history with a specific castle site in the Cidlina area.

The first written record of the Žiželice area dates from 1052. At that time, a wooden church and a market center serving the wider surrounding area already stood there. The stone church, built to its original dimensions in 1437, provides another point of reference. A substantial part of its masonry has survived to this day.

The ethnographic exhibition focuses on the heyday of crafts and guilds. Its exhibits include guild banners and seals, as well as journeymen’s and guild certificates and facsimiles of guild books. These objects bring the subjects of crafts and guilds to life through a range of historical records.

Another architectural feature is the Žiželice road bridge over the Cidlina. Built in 1923, the reinforced-concrete structure has two spans; the total length of the bridge is 40.9 meters. Alongside the church, this 20th-century structure is another specific architectural landmark in the town.

The Cidlina and the Landscape

The Cidlina shapes both the geographical setting of Žiželice and several of its historical themes. Hradišťský hrad stood on a promontory by the river, and the road bridge crosses the Cidlina. The flat, gently rolling landscape also defines the broader setting of the town.

The Žehuňský rybník–Obora Kněžičky bird protection area extends into the Zbraň district of Žiželice and southwestward into intensively farmed agricultural land. The area’s landscape features include extensive reed beds and wet meadows at Žehuňský rybník, an area in Žehuňská obora consisting mainly of oak-hornbeam forest, and the small Kopičácký rybník. Žehuňský rybník was created on the Cidlina in 1492, and Žehuňská obora was established in 1840. The two dates point to different periods of origin within this landscape.

Cycle Route and Road Connections

Cycle Route 4199 is part of a cycling route from Nymburk via Poděbrady, Libice nad Cidlinou, Žehuň and Žiželice to Chlumec nad Cidlinou. If you plan to use this connection, check the route’s local conditions before setting off.

For road travel, Žiželice is directly connected to the D11 motorway and the adjoining network of Class II and Class III roads. The cycling route and road connections thus offer two different points of reference when planning a trip. Together with the museum’s history, the surviving church masonry and the bridge built in 1923, they give a specific picture of the town without reducing its history to a single period.

Discover more destinations: Tatce, Veltruby, Býchory, Pašinka, Ohaře, Krychnov, Ratbor, Volárna

For the regional travel overview: Kolín District.