Kadaň, a town of 18 000 residents, is located in the region where the Ohře River frees itself from the clenches of the Krušné and Doupovské mountains. The Ohře played a pivotal role in the process of settlement. Archeological findings show that people first settled here in the very distant past, about 16 000 years ago. In the fourth century BC, Celtic tribes arrived, bringing with them the La Téne culture. Legend has it that it was the Celts who founded the first settlement in the local basin, under the name ¨Kad An¨ or,, blazing fire¨. The first Slavs came into the Poohří area in the sixth century AD