SAAZ (Bohemian Z̃atec), a manufacturing and commercial town in the north of Bohemia, is situated on the right bank of the Eger, 42 miles north-west of Prague. The suspension bridge, 210 feet long, which here spans the river was constructed in 1826 and is one of the oldest of the kind in Bohemia. Saaz, which claims to have existed as early as the 8th century, contains a number of ancient churches, of which one is said to date from 1206, and five others from before the close of the 14th century. The town-house was built in 1559. A technical school was added in 1878 to the already fairly numerous educational institutions. Nails, leather, beetroot-sugar, and pasteboard are among the chief manufactures of Saaz, which, however, owes its main importance to being the centre of the extensive hop-trade of the neighbourhood. The hops of Saaz are said to have been renowned for the last five hundred years; and nearly 800 tons are annually raised in the district to which the town gives its name. The population of Saaz was 12,425 in 1880.