Blevice

The village is located away from all major roads at the end of a small valley, whose slopes are partially covered by forest. The forest covers 1/6 of the cadastral area which is quite a high ratio in comparison with most villages which are surrounded by open fields.

Blevice was first mentioned in 1282, but the location has been inhabited a long time before that. As a group of 7 or 8 (today barely noticeable) prehistoric burial barrows in the wood southeast of the villages testifies. They were archaeologically explored in the 19th century. No definite opinion of the age of the barrows can be stated. Estimates vary from late Bronze Age (second half of 2nd millennium BC) to Slavic period of early Middle Ages (second half of 1st millennium AD).[2]

According to the 2001 census.[3] the population was 282, which is almost exclusively Czechs with two people declaring themselves to be of Ukrainian and Vietnamese ethnicity. 82% of population was without religion, 8% belonged to Roman Catholic Church, 2% to other religious groups, 9% gave no response. With no significant employment opportunities in the village, over 90% of economically active population commute to neighbouring towns. The bus service to Kladno and Kralupy nad Vltavou operates on working days only. The same connection by train from Zákolany station (2.5 km by road from Blevice) is available every day.

The Jewish cemetery, which was in use until the Holocaust.

Blevice has a Jewish cemetery located in the southern (upper) end of the village, beside the Zákolany road. Within an enclosure of about 2,400 m² there are about 300 preserved tombstones dating from early 18th century until the Holocaust. The neighbouring gravedigger's house from the 1880s is well preserved and today serves as a private residence. Only a small number of Jewish families lived in Blevice proper in the 19th century, the cemetery was used mainly by Jews from the nearby town of Velvary and the village of Ješín.[4] There are no longer any Jews in Blevice.

In the centre of the village there is a small chapel dating from 1746 which has a memorial plaque on its side wall which lists the local victims of World War I.

The first public performance of Czech violin virtuoso Jan Kubelík was held in Blevice in 1891.[5]

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  Municipal office building in centre of the village
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  The 1746 Chapel
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  Crossroads as seen from the chapel
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  A street in Blevice
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  Jewish cemetery tombstones
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  Former gravedigger's house and cemetery wall

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Blevice.

• Municipal website (in Czech)