The town of Přerov is situated in the heart of Moravia along both banks of the Bečva River. Being an social, administrative and cultural centre of the Přerov County, it has a population of 50,000 scattered in twelve town districts. Modern industrial development was triggered by the railway in 1841, especially engineering, brewing and sugar production. Local power distributor covered the area with electric networks as early as the end of the l9th century. Then chemistry, leather goods (the KAZETO Company) and optical instruments (Meopta) followed. Animal breeds have been shown on the local fairgrounds since 1883. Growing number of companies provide improving shopping and tourist services and new hotels, private guest-houses and hostels offer accommodation of good level. Free-time facilities include the swimming-pool, bowling, tennis courts and halls plus a few more sports facilities. Reconditioning and fitness centres are run by the hotels, and there are more at the football and winter stadiums and in the facility of the Town Service Company. Another well-known place is the Bochoř Resort some 5 km away, where baths and massages can be enjoyed or pleasant accommodation booked. Items worth seeing while in Přerov include the Upper Square (Horní náměstí) with the château which now harbours the Comenius Museum founded back in 1888. It shows archaeological, ethnographic, entomological, mineralogical exhibits and items of the national culture and the life and work of Comenius, including some historic classrooms. The château courtyard often becomes a stage for concerts. An important role in local cultural life is plays by the Community House founded on 1 May, 1896 and opened in December 1897. A complex reconstruction was finished in 1992. It has been the scene of many cultural events, including the Czechoslovak Jazz Festival organised each September to which top musicians and bands from Europe and the overseas keep coming. There is a rare steppe locality and Nature Reserve nearby. Přerovská rokle is where motocross races are staged.