The name was derived from the personal name Ledva, meaning "the village of Ledva's people".[2]
Geography
Ledvice is located about 6 kilometres (4 mi) southwest of Teplice. It lies in the Most Basin. The highest point is at 229 m (751 ft) above sea level. The western part of the municipality is formed by the Bílina Quarry.
History
The first written mention of Ledvice is from 1204. The people's livelihood was agriculture, later the production of porcelain also developed. Until the establishment of an independent municipality in 1850, the village belonged to the Duchcov estate. In the 19th century, the region became a centre for lignite mining, which led to an increase in the population. In 1898, Ledvice was promoted to a market town. In 1911, Emperor Franz Joseph I promoted Ledvice to the status of a town.[3]
In 1938–1945, the town was annexed by Nazi Germany and administered as part of the Reichsgau Sudetenland. After World War II, the German inhabitants were expelled. In the following decades, deep mining was gradually replaced by surface mining, which resulted in the liquidation of a large part of the town and caused a significant decrease in the number of inhabitants.[3]
The Děčín–Kadaň railway line runs along the eastern municipal border, but there is no train station.
Sights
Ledvice is poor in monuments. The only protected cultural monument is the Monument to the Fallen in World War I and II. The scuptural group was created in 1947 and surpasses other similar monuments in quality of workmanship and originality.[6]
