Situated some 30 kilometres west of Prague, Kladno with the 75,000 inhabitants still stands for coal and steel in the popular awareness. But these attributes refer rather to Kladno's history and fit much less for the present. Coal mining has moved out of town and metallurgy has shrunk. The face of Kladno, especially the central pedestrian zone, now lives its renaissance. The oldest testimony refers to a small village in the period of 1315-18 while 1561 is the year of Kladno's becoming a vassal town. The last lords of the Břevnov and Broumov Benedictine Demesne invited the baroque Master Kilián I. Dientzenhofer to Kladno, and three of his works have survived down to our times: the mansion (today a gallery and museum); St Florian's sculpture group; and the Immaculata group. The 1870 promotion to royal town and the 1898 status of a royal mining town have supported the development of the town centre which now consists of a number of historicising, ArtNouveau, and modernist public buildings and burgher houses many of which are under restoration today. The 1846 discovery of coal and the build-up of the Adalbert and Poldi metallurgical works made Kladno rapidly evolve into Central Bohemia's largest industrial centre. But you must visit the Poldi Engineering Museum or the mining museum at the Mayrau Mine at the north-western edge to see the short industrial season today. Kladno is the base for one of Central Bohemia's oldest theatres; has got several galleries; is good at ice-hockey-just remember František Pospišil or Jaromír Jágr; and offers much in terms of social and cultural life and sports facilities. The south-western frontier is the forest clad countryside which merges into a holiday area around Kačák and Křivoklát. The vicinity of Prague, good accommodation facilities, and good links with the Prague Airport make Kladno a suitable base if you want to see Prague.

St Lawrence Abbey Chapel with frescos by Jan Karel Kovář from 1740. There is an exhibition of local baroque inside.

Built in the early l8th century by the Abbey of Břevnov and Broumov according to Dientzenhofer's plans, the Château of Kladno is now a freshly restored Regional Museum and Municipal Château Gallery.

The central baroque Florian's Chapel in TGM Street. The building, probably Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer's last sacral work was built in 1751.

TGM-Street, the main avenue of Kladno, is now reserved for pedestrians. The silhouette on the left-hand side is St Florian's Chapel; the right-hand side house is the old pharmacy named "Bohemian Crown" with Mikoláš Aleš's graffiti.

Mayor Paul's Square in the historical core of Kladno, dominated by the neo-Romanesque Virgin Mary Assumption's Church built by L. Lábler and by the neo-Renaissance Town Hall by J. Vejrych.