Čilec

Čilec is a small village in the Czech Republic, six kilometres north-west of Nymburk. It sits in a shallow valley where the Čilecký potok stream rises, a tributary of the Vlkava. The railway from Nymburk to Mladá Boleslav runs along its eastern edge. The nearest hamlets are Zavadilka and Jizbice to the north, Krchleby to the north-east, and Všechlapy to the east. The village first appears in records in 1398 as the seat of Jan of Čilec. Over the next centuries the estate passed through several noble families, including the Naček, the lords of Kunwald, the Martinic and the Dohna. After the Thirty Years War the village was reduced to two farms and two cottages. By 1787 it had grown to 21 houses with 147 inhabitants. In 1907 Čilec became an independent municipality and the local farm employed a hundred workers. Today the village consists of 106 houses grouped around the main road. The only listed building is the 1903 Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows, a modest red-brick structure with a small bell tower. Beyond the chapel the fields stretch away towards the railway and the rising ground of the Bohemian Table.