the rule of bishop Stanislav I Thurzo, the local bishop's residence was repaired and rebuilt into a late Gothic and Renaissance castle. His followers further refined the town and provided costly building repairs. The town and the castle were badly damaged in the Thirty Years' War. It was plundered by Swedish troops under command of Lennart Torstensson in 1643. Most of the buildings were burned down. The town was further damaged by a large fire in 1656. Kroměříž recovered during the rule of Bishop Karl II von Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn, who had rebuilt the town and the castle. The castle was first repaired, and in 1686 completely rebuilt. He also has repaired town walls, and founded a mint and representative gardens in 1666–1675. Kroměříž again became an important town. The Constitutive Imperial Congress sat in Kroměříž in 1848. In August 1885 a meeting took place here between the Austrian and the Russian emperors. Demographics Economy On the outskirts of the town there is the Agricultural Research Institute Kroměříž (formerly the Research Institute of Grain, etc., founded in 1951), which is engaged in research and breeding of cereals. There is a hospital and a psychiatric hospital in Kroměříž. Both are among the main employers in the town. Transport The D1 motorway passes through the northern part of the town. Culture Kroměříž lies in the ethnographic region of Haná. It has rich cultural life for which it earned a nickname "Athens of Haná". The town has traditionally held an international festival of military brass music and the international festival of sacred music FORFEST. The Castle Gallery has collection of about 500 paintings and is among the most significant in Europe. It includes Flaying of Marsyas, a late painting by Titian. Sport The football club SK Hanácká Slavia Kroměříž plays in the Moravian-Silesian Football League, the third tier of football in the Czech Republic. Sights The town is best known for the Baroque Kroměříž Castle with its valuable gardens. The polygonal tower of the castle is the main landmark as well as the oldest remnant of the old Bishop's Castle. The Gardens and Castle at Kroměříž were added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1998. Despite several reconstructions after the war damage, the Church of Saint Maurice retained its early Gothic appearance. Bishop Bruno von Schauenburg is buried in the church. The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was the