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Without question the town of Kutna Hora in central Bohemia is a must-see destination for anyone visiting the Czech Republic, a town with a long and fascinating history. In the 13th and 14th centuries the site became increasingly famous for silver deposits, which attracted miners and eventually accounted for as much as a third of all the silver production in Europe.

Holesovice market is the largest in Prague and attracts 12 million visitors a year. Fruit and vegetable stalls are perhaps its biggest draw, though it also features some regular shops, and lots of Vietnamese stalls, selling everything from knuckledusters to fake designer clothing. Now its operators are working hard to modernize the market and clean up its image. They have even given it a new name: River Town Prague.

Today we're in Brandys nad Labem-Stara Boleslav just north-east of Prague. This place has a rather long name - the longest in the country, in fact, and that's because it actually used to consist of two separate towns: Brandys nad Labem and Stara Boleslav.

This edition of Spotlight comes to you from the Czech Republic's famous Jested Mountain: the site of a popular ski hill as well as a space-age hotel.

Welcome to Knezice, a village of about 500 inhabitants in central Bohemia. It's the very definition of a rural Czech community, with its baroque church, low-slung 19th century farm buildings, and a few ponds with ducks. In some places, the smell of coal or burning wood hangs in the air. Many homes in this region were never hooked up to gas heat.

In today's Spotlight we visit the Moravian town of Bystrice pod Hostynem, close to the city of Zlin. Lying beneath the Hostyn Hill, which is a place of pilgrimage but also offers ideal hiking routes and skiing conditions, the town attracts thousands of visitors every year.

Just a few moments ago I arrived in the town of Nymburk, our location for today's Spotlight. Nymburk lies in Central Bohemia, just 50 kilometres east of Prague. Now, it may not be an obvious destination but the town is in many ways remarkable.

The house of culture in the Moravian town of Prostejov is one of the country's best examples of the art nouveau style. Built by the famous architect Jan Kotera, it celebrates its 99th birthday this Friday. Dita Asiedu takes a tour around the newly renovated structure with the house of culture director Alena Spurna:

Undeterred by the onset of winter weather, hordes of tourists swirl in eddies around the Old Town Square—in front of the famous Astronomical Clock, by the carts selling sausages and cups of hot wine, down the passages lined with stalls crammed top to bottom with knickknacks and gewgaws. It is a site that is as rich in art and history as it is bustling with activity. This place is one of Prague's nerve centers, the beating heart of the old city.

For first-time visitors the world-famous Konopiste Chateau or Karlstejn Castle are natural choices for daytrips outside of Prague but one destination visitors might want to consider is the royal Czech town of Rakovnik, a veritable historic gem found less than 60 kilometres west of the Czech capital. Archaeologists have found that long before it was established as a town, the site of Rakovnik and its surroundings, was favoured by tribes as far back as the Stone Age. Finds on display at the local TG Masaryk Museum in Rakovnik show some of the oldest