University
The university, the oldest in Moravia and second oldest in the Czech Republic, was founded in 1573 as part of effort to reestablish Roman Catholicism in the country. At the time, roughly nine out of ten inhabitants of the Czech Crown lands were Protestants. Most of its faculties were suppressed in 1850s by the Habsburg régime in retaliation for the professors' and students' support for the 1848 revolution and the Czech National Revival. The university was fully restored in 1946; it was renamed Palacký University of Olomouc.
The University plays a very important role in the life of the town: with over 25,200 students (including those at Moravian College Olomouc), Olomouc has the highest density of university students in Central Europe. Many of the town's services are student-oriented. They close during holidays and the university exam periods. During the summer holiday, the trams run solo (apart from rush-hours), while during the university sessions, the lines are served by two coupled trams.
The University buildings comprise about a third of the town's heritage centre; notable ones include the University Art Centre and the so-called Armoury (now Central Library).
Read more about this topic: Olomouc
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