Pisek, Czech Republic

Písek is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 30,000 inhabitants. The town center is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone.
Písek is colloquially called "South Bohemian Athens", because it has many high schools and schools of higher education, including the Film School in Písek. Up to the last decades of 19th century Písek was the center of the large autonomous Prácheňsko region.
The name of Písek literally means "sand". It refers to the sound of the Otava River, which was panned for gold by the first settlers.