The origins of the town date back to the 13th century. At that time, a Slavic settlement located along the Zittau Trail began to change into a town. However, the first explicit evidence of the town's existence dates back to 1337.

Thanks to the development of handicraft production, extremely developed suburbs sprang up around the inner city. In the 18th century Česká Lípa was one of the most populated Czech towns and textile manufactories began to be established here. At that time, Česká Lípa was especially famous in the world for its cartouches, which were manufactories for printing textiles.

The historic centre of the town was declared a town conservation area. Recently, many beautiful houses with unusual facades from the Art Nouveau and Empire periods have been renovated here. The plague column with the Holy Trinity by the Zittau sculptor Jan Kristian Ulrich dates from 1681. In the 18th century it was supplemented with statues of the provincial patrons St. Wenceslas, St. Vojtěch, St. John of Nepomuk and St. Florian - the patron saint of fire protection.