town, north-central Czech Republic, at the confluence of the Orlice and Elbe rivers. The old town stands on a low outcrop of sandstone between the rivers; the new town is on the western bank of the Elbe. Hradec Králové lies at the crossing of old trade routes from the Baltic Sea to the Danube River and from Prague to Kraków, Poland. Its marketplace received town rights in 1225. Fortified in the 14th century, Hradec Králové became associated with Elisabeth of Poland, the queen dowager (Králové means “of the queen”), who founded the Gothic Cathedral of the Holy Ghost there in 1307. At the time, it was the second largest city of Bohemia. It suffered severely in the 17th century during the Thirty Years' War. The Prussians decisively defeated the Austrians in 1866 at the Battle of Königgrätz, which took place between Hradec Králové and the nearby town of Sadova (Sadowa).

Hradec Králové is a rail junction and is noted for the manufacture of musical instruments. Pop. (2007 est.) 94,255.