Žatec (Czech pronunciation: [ˈʒa.tɛt͡s]; German: Saaz) is a town in Louny District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 19,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Ohře river. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument reservation and partly as an urban monument zone. Žatec is famous for an over-700-year-long tradition of growing Saaz noble hops used by several breweries.