As early as the 11th century, there existed on one of the 3 hills (Vaclav hill), a centre of worldly, and later of ecclesiastic power for the surrounding region. After 1055, on the site of an older fortified settlement of the 9th-10th century, following the adjoining of Moravia to the Czech Premyslid state, and after dividing Moravia into hereditary princes' domains, of which the Olomouc principality was the most significant, there came into being a stone castle in which resided the first Moravian hereditary prince - Bretislav I and his successors. This castle is first referred to as Olomouc in the Cosmas chronicle as early as in 1055. Nothing was preserved of the castle which had its location somewhere in the place of the later Capitular Deanery. After 1200, the reign of hereditary princes in Moravia and in Olomouc region was replaced by markgraves or directly by Czech sovreigns. Contrary to political power stood Catholic clergy, represented already from 1063 by the second oldest bishopric in the Czech lands, in 1777 promoted to archbishopic. Episcopal was also the church of St. Peter on the site of today's Philosophical Faculty, from where bishop Henry Zdik, son of the chronicler Cosmas, transferred the seat of his new office to the basilica of St. Vaclav (St. Wenceslas), built within the precincts of the prince's castle. Then for himself he built in the church's vicinity his palace. Remnants of a magnificent Romanesque residential architecture were proclaimed a national cultural heritage in 1962, and made accessible to the public under the name the Premyslid Palace. Close by the castle, a Benedictine Abbacy - Hradisko was founded in 1078, burial site of the Premyslids. in which originated a part of the famous Annals Hradistko-Opatovice.
In the vicinity of the castle and further westward were scattered several artisan and mercantile settlements of Slavonic foundations. By their conjunction at the initiative of the Czech king, the town of Olomouc came into being in the second half of the 13th century, thus making up an independent settlement formation, as` an antipole to the so called Predhradi, where the Premyslid ecclesiastical institutions resided. The town was rapidly developing and becoming rich, and from the 14th century till the year 1642 was the capital of Moravia, an important economical, political and cultural center. It was here that the Czech king - Vaclav III, the last Premyslid on the Czech throne was assassinated in 1306. The town, which rose by colonization, formed in its ground-plan a unique municipal entity having Gothic foundations with two mutually interconnected squares.
In the period of the Hussite revolution Olomouc became a bastion of anti-Hussite resistance. However, in the second half of the 15th century begins the town's gradual and comprehensive development. New imposing burgesses' houses and aristocratic palaces sprang up, the town hall with the famous horologe was completed (end of 15th century), construction of St. Maurice Cathedral was completed, and in 1525, a new part was attached to the town - Belidla.
The prime of its economic and cultural prosperity, which was consummated with the establishment of the University in 1573 (operational till the half of 19th century), attained Olomouc in the 16th century. In 1619 the town joined the anti-Habsburg uprising, and after the battle of White Mountain, was punished by confiscations of 38 houses, banishment of many burgesses and by a vast penalty. In 1642 the provincial authorities were transferred over to Brno, and thus Olomouc ceased to be the capital of Moravia. In the same year the town was conquered by the Swedes, who accomplished here the work of destruction, and all but destroyed the town in 1650. It was only with difficulty that the town rallied again. The new town was already built in the Baroque style, with a series of valuable, mostly ecclesiastic structures. This building activity was however slowed down by a great fire in 1709, in which a quarter of the town burned down. Nevertheless, the reconstruction was renewed even after this, and it is just from the 1st half of the 18th century when many burgesses' houses or adaptations of aristocratic palaces originated.
In 1742-1756 the municipal fortification was entirely reconstructed, and the town became a significant Austrian frontier fortress. Olomouc retained this characteristic feature of an ecclesiastic and military town till the abolishment of the fortress in 1866. Although the economic growth of the town was thus impeded, on the other hand, however, a unique municipal layout and a Baroque town appearance was preserved. In 1950 its historical core was proclaimed a municipal historical monuments reserve.
Today the town endeavors to resume its significant historical traditions, and has all prerequisites to become an important trade, cultural and tourist centre of central Moravia.