The town is located about southwest of Prague at the confluence of Berounka and Litavka rivers. The town is part of the Prague metropolitan area., it has a population of 18,930. The surrounding landscape is hilly, Beroun itself is situated in deep valley what has been a limitation for building development. The highest point is a Děd peak, 493 meters above sea level, the lowest point is a Berounka river, 212 meters above sea level. Neighboring hills of Brdy and Křivoklátská vrchovina are protected landscape areas, popular for tourist. Beroun is connected via D5 motorway with Prague and German Bundesautobahn 6 to Nuremberg, part of the European route E50. 3rd Railway Corridor leads through town.
History
A settlement na Brodě was first mentioned in a 1088 deed. As a royal Bohemian town, it received its present name in the 13th century. Its name may be derived from Bern, the archaic German name of Verona in Italy, but alternatively might be a form of the ancient Slavic theonym Perun. Already in the High Middle Ages, under the rule of King Wenceslaus II, it was a fortified town. Many citizens were German merchants, settling here in the course of the Ostsiedlung. Beroun officially obtained town privileges from the hands of Emperor Charles IV, who was specially attached to the place, calling it "Verona mea." Under his patronage the town rapidly prospered. In 1421 Hussite forces under the command of Jan Žižka stormed the town, and though it was retaken and devastated after the Battle of Lipany, it has remained a mainly Czech settled town since then.
Under the rule of the House of Habsburg from 1526, the town's estates were seized. During the Thirty Years' War it was sacked by the Imperial army, the Saxon and the Swedish forces in turn. In the First Silesian War the same fate befell it at the hands of the French and Bavarian troops. In the early 18th century the Chapel of Virgin Mary of Sorrows, now a cultural heritage site, was built in the town. A garrison town since the 18th century, Beroun did not prosper again until in the 1860s with the opening of limestone quarries and iron ore mines. Beside several ironworks, Beroun became the site of textile manufacturing and the population increased. Beroun was significantly transformed during communist rule. Heavy industry was expanded. Central government policy set quotas for new flats. As Beroun is situated between two rivers in deep valley, without suitable building plots, quotas were matched by demolition of historical medieval buildings and by erecting prefabricated high-rise buildings. Town look was changed again in 1980´s when D5 highway was opened, running on the bridge above the town. Králův Dvůr town, together with multiple villages was joined to Beroun, leaving it in 1990. Since fall of communism, town revitalisation has been set. Rests of medieval buildings has been reconstructed as well as town walls has been conserved. Heavy industry left the town, significantly rising quality of living. In 21st century, Beroun is popular place for housing for its proximity to Prague as well as excelent travel connection.
