The city is known worldwide for Pilsner beer, created by Bavarian brewer Josef Groll in the city in 1842.
Pilsen is the fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 175,000 inhabitants.
The city is the transportation hub and the economic and cultural centre of western Bohemia.
Plzeň is divided into ten boroughs, which are further divided into 25 administrative parts
Plzeň was a European Capital Of Culture in 2015, along with Mons in Belgium.
Plzeň was first mentioned as a castle in 976, as the scene of a battle between Duke Boleslaus II the Pious of Bohemia and Emperor Otto II.
The average elevation of Pilsen is 310 m
Pilsen became a town in 1295 when King Wenceslaus II granted Plzeň its civic charter as a “Royal City” and established a new town site.
Plzeň is twinned with Birmingham, United States; Liège, Belgium; Limoges, France; Regensburg, Germany; Takasaki, Japan; Winterthur, Switzerland & Žilina, Slovakia.
The Škoda company, established in Plzeň in 1859, has been an important element of Austro-Hungarian, Czechoslovak and Czech engineering, and one of the biggest European arms factories.
