Úžice (German: Auschitz) is a municipality and village in Mělník District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,100 inhabitants.
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Administrative division
Úžice consists of four municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census):
Etymology
The name is derived from the personal name Úža, meaning "the village of Úža's people".
Geography
Úžice is located about 13 kilometres (8 mi) southwest of Mělník and 15 km (9 mi) north of Prague. It lies in a relatively flat landscape in the Central Elbe Table. The highest point is a nameless hill at 227 m (745 ft) above sea level. The Černávka Stream flows through the municipality.
There are three small-scale protected areas in the municipal territory: Kopeč Nature Reserve (rocks with rare thermophilic plants), Dřínovská stráň Nature Monument (protected grasslands on dry marlstone slopes) and Netřebská slaniska Nature Monument (small remains of the original extensive swamps and salt marshes).
History
The first written mention of Úžice is from 1405. In the 19th century, the municipality was industrialised. The local sugar factory was in operation from 1856 to 1999. The railway was opened in 1865.
Transport
The D8 motorway from Prague to Ústí nad Labem (part of the European route E55) runs through the municipality.
Úžice is located on the railway line Kralupy nad Vltavou–Neratovice. The municipality is served by two train stations: Úžice and Netřeba.
Sights
The only protected cultural monument in the municipality is the local primary school. It is an architecturally valuable building, built in the Neo-Renaissance style in 1891–1894.
In 2022, the tallest statue of Jesus of the Czech Republic was erected in Úžice.