Lhota

There are 309 villages which contain Lhota or Lhotka (diminutive form of Lhota) in their name, which makes it the most common name of villages in the Czech Republic.[1] In addition, there are dozens of villages with derivation of this name (Lhotice, Lhoty, Lhůty in the Czech Republic; Lehota or Lehótka in Slovakia). The largest of them are Komorní Lhotka and Dolní Lhota in the Moravian-Silesian Region and Francova Lhota and Ostrožská Lhota in the Zlín Region, all of them with about 1,500 inhabitants.[2]

Lhotas were founded during the middle-age colonization in Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia. Most of them were founded in the 13th century and the first half of the 14th century.[3] The name was first mentioned in 1199 (but the village was later renamed Svatý Jiří).[1]

The inhabitants of newly founded villages had obligations towards suzerains, but those duties were usually suspended for a certain period (such as 5–8 years) as a compensation for felling of forests and making the land available for agriculture. This period used to be called "lhóta" (i.e. 'grace period') and often became a part of the village name.[3]

They were usually established by local inhabitants, namely smaller noblemen close to their own village. The name of the founder, usually of a Slavic origin, became sometimes a part of village name (e.g., Vlachova Lhota). In other cases, the adjective in village name relates to its size (Dlouhá Lhota – Long Lhota) or other characteristics (Dolní Lhota – Lower Lhota, Písková Lhota – Sandy Lhota).

• Wola (settlement), a similar concept in Polish history
• Sloboda, a similar concept in Russian history

• 342 villages on a map server of the Czech Republic