7UNESCO
MONUMENTS WITHIN EASY REACH OF BRNO � trips
UNESCO Monuments in the Czech Republic UNESCO, the United Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, is one of 14 international specialized UNO organizations. In 1972 the UNESCO Conference approved the Convention of Protection of the Most Important World Cultural and Natural Heritage, which came into force in 1975. As part of the world heritage various cultural and natural monuments all over the world are considered those which have been chosen by the UNESCO because of being unique and included into the List of World Heritage. According to the Convention the contracting states owning such particular monuments are obliged to protect, mark and pass them to the future generations. Placing a monument on the list is considered to be a special privilege and honour. The former Czechoslovakia joined the Convention in 1990 and its successor, the Czech Republic, took over all duties in question immediately after its constitution in 1993. There have already been 12 places in the Czech Republic so unique that they deserve being enlisted among the world cultural monuments of the UNESCO World Heritage. These are: Prague – the historical centre Telč – the historical centre Český Krumlov – the historical centre Žďár nad Sázavou – the Pilgrimage Church of St. John of Nepomuk at Zelená Hora Kutná Hora – the historical centre The Lednice-Valtice Area Kroměříž – the Archbishop Chateau and the Květná and the Podzámecká Gardens Holašovice – a uniquely preserved village of South Bohemian kind Litomyšl – the Renaissance castle and the historical town centre Olomouc – the Trinity Column Brno – Tugenhat Villa Třebíč – the Romanesque-Gothic Basilika of St. Prokopius and the Jewish Town Let us present on the following pages seven out of the twelve above mentioned monuments and recommend you to visit them when staying in the South-Moravian metropolis. They are located literally within easy reach of Brno. However, not only cultural but also natural monuments of the Czech Republic are valuable and remarkable enough to be part of the UNESCO List of World Heritage. Most of them are biospheric reserves: The Krkonoše National Park, The Šumava (The Bohemian Forest), the Třeboňsko, Křivoklátsko and Dolní Morava regions and the Bílé Karpaty (the White Carpathians).
tugendhat vilLa Brno This most important European building by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was placed on the UNESCO List of World Heritage in 2001. In the inter-war period the young married couple, the Tugendhats, entrusted one of the most significant period architects with a design of a villa. Being not restricted by finances, he was able to use the most modern technologies of the time. Using a steel skeleton without supporting walls, the architect could create a concept of an open living space connected with the natural environment. By means of this project the author established criteria for modern living applicable until now and created an architectonic masterpiece of functionalism. The architect laid out the villa into three levels. The central floor was made a living and representative part. The free space was divided only by means of indications. A half-circle wooden wall outlines the dining room and the unique onyx wall divides the space into the living room and the study. Onyx, which is a variety of chalcedony, will light up when touched by sunrays and glow in the interior with warm colours. The living room is separated from the garden only by glass panes of giant windows. Two of them can be shifted through the floor into the lower level and connect the house with the garden.
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Tugendhat Villa in Brno
tugendhat vilLa Brno Heating the living part of the house was made in a very progressive way. The warm air was brought there through ventholes in the floor and through the walls of the heating room placed on the ground floor where also stores, a washroom and a photolab were placed. On the upper floor bedrooms and children´s rooms as well as nanny´s room were situated. The interiors of the house including metal door fittings, lights and switches were also designed by Mies van der Rohe. He also designed particular pieces of furniture specially for the villa, e.g. the “Brno”type chairs and armchairs produced until now. In 1938 the Tugendhats emigrated to St. Gallen in Switzerland. During the Second World War the house was seized by the Gestapo and devastated when Brno was being liberated. Fortunately, the architectonic substance of the building remained untouched by the following repairs and unsuitable adaptations.
Contact data Tugendhat Villa Černopolní 45, 613 00 Brno tel. / fax: 545 212 118 e-mail: iveta.cerna@tugendhat-villa.cz www.tugendhat-villa.cz
Opening hours Wednesday–Sunday 10–18 Reservation in advance necessary! The villa will be open to the public until December 31, 2008, after that a long-term reconstruction will follow.
Transportation in Brno Trams number 3, 5, 11 from the tram stop Česká to the tram stop Dětská nemocnice (Children´s hospital), a 5-minute ride The Interior of the Villa
tugendhat vilLa Brno Other Tourist Attractions in Brno Zemanova kavárna (The Zeman Café) The original Zeman Café from 1925 in the park in Koliště Street ranks to the first strictly functionalist buildings in former Czechoslovakia. It was demolished in 1964. Its replica was put into operation on the 100th anniversary of its architect, Bohuslav Fuchs´s birth in 1995.
Avion Hotel The Avion Hotel in Česká Street, finished in 1928, is probably the most important functionalist structure by Bohuslav Fuchs. The architect excellently solved the complicated layout of the hotel on a 8.35 m narrow and 34-m-back-running site .
Brno Exhibition Ground (www.bvv.cz) Several exhibition halls designed by outstanding Prague and Brno architects were built for the Exhibition of Contemporary Culture in 1928. Among the most distinctive functionalist buildings rank the monumental A-hall, the Brno Exhibition Hall and the Moravia Exhibition Hall. The Exhibition of Contemporary Culture was even in its time believed to be a milestone in the development of Czech architecture.
Commercial Bank The Commercial Bank (the original Moravian Bank) in náměstí Svobody (Liberty Square), is one of the structures of prime functionalism designed by architect Bohuslav Fuchs together with Ernst Wiesner. It was built between 1929 and 1930.
Janáček-Theatre It was built by architect Jan Víšek in the period of 1957–1966 during the revival of modern art traditions. Its author was able to ignore the Soviet patterns in architecture in the era of the fading away socialist realism and his project of the then National Theatre was victorious.
The Interior of the Villa
The Lednice-Valtice Area The Lednice-Valtice Area ranks among the largest artificially shaped landscape complexes in the world. Thanks to its exceptional natural, cultural and historical values this area was entered on the UNESCO List of World Heritage in 1996. The Lednice-Valtice Area stretching on almost 300 hectares is lined by the state border with Austria in the South, and flanked by the Protected Landscape Area and biospheric reserve Pálava in the West. The natural border of the area is outlined by the Dyje River in the North and in the East. The rich Liechtenstein family originating in Austria, who gained their first properties in the South of Moravia in the 13th century, started reshaping the local landscape into a remarkable urban complex. The family was seated there for centuries and gradually took ownership of the whole present-day area. The Liechtensteins succeeded in harmonizing the aesthetics of the artificially shaped landscape with the adjoining bottomland forests and the agricultural landscape. They situated their grand residences and a number of smaller structures with elegance into this harmonic natural setting. Shaping the area was based on traditions followed in English parks. Structures in Baroque style are connected here with the Lednice Chateau adapted in neo-Gothic style and with small structures built
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The Minaret
The Chateau and the Park in Lednice
The Lednice-Valtice Area in Classicism and the Romantic style of the 19th century. These are: the Little Hunting Castle, the Minaret, Apollo´s Temple, the Pond Castle, the New Courtyard, the Border Castle, the Three Graces´ Temple, John´s Castle, the Obelisk, and the Rendes-vous.
Lednice Chateau Built on the site of the original medieval stronghold, a later Renaissance castle was reconstructed in Baroque style in the 17th century. The contemporary appearance of the chateau originated in the neo-Gothic reconstruction in Tudor-Gothic style in the period of 1846–1858. The original Baroque appearance is preserved only in the nearby standing riding-hall and stables. The Romantic neoGothic style was also given to the interiors richly decorated by outstanding examples of woodcarving mastery. The visitor´s attention also deserve the spindle-shaped self-supporting staircase in the library, the coffered lime wood ceiling in the Blue Hall, the relief of the family tree made in ivory or the marble fireplaces.
Contact data Státní zámek Lednice 691 444 Lednice tel.: 519 340 128, e-mail: szlednice@iol.cz www.zamek-lednice.info/zamek.php
Opening hours April–October September May–August Lunch break
9–16, open on Saturdays and Sundays 9–16, closed on Mondays 9–17, closed on Mondays 12–13 The Chateau of Lednice
The Lednice-Valtice Area Valtice Chateau Originally a castle founded probably as early as in the 12th century, from 1387 to 1945 it was the Liechtensteins´family property. Rebuilt several times, adapted in Renaissance style in the second half of the 16th century, it went through a long-term Baroque reconstruction after the Thirty Years´ War. Three chateau wings were built and a garden founded. At the same time the space between the chateau and the town was set into a court of honour with farm houses, a theatre and a riding hall. During the 18th century the chateau garden and park were adapted and in the mid-19th century John I. of Liechtenstein had the landscape of the whole Valtice area reshaped.
Contact data Statní zámek Valtice Zámek 1 691 42 Valtice tel.: 519 352 423 e-mail: valtice@brno.npu.cz www.zamek-valtice.cz
Opening hours May–August September October
9–18, closed on Mondays 9–17, closed on Mondays 9–16, open on Saturdays and Sundays
Transportation from Brno By car: along motorway D1 direction Bratislava, take exit 41 for road number 422 direction Podivín, Lednice. Total distance – 56 km By bus: Brno, ÚAN (the Central Bus Station) – Lednice town square By train: Brno – Břeclav, changing trains for Valtice Historical diesel trains: Brno – Lednice in the season from April to September
The Chateau of Valtice
The Lednice-Valtice Area Tourist Attractions in the Neighbourhood of the Lednice-ValtiCe Area Mikulov (www.mikulov.cz) Mikulov is literally packed with historical sights, the number of which is 112 of those registered ones. Among the most significant ones are the Gothic-Renaissance St. Wenceslas´ Church, the Renaissance, Baroque and Classicist houses in the square, the Dietrichstein family´s Tomb, the Jewish Town and the late-Baroque chateau, originally a Gothic castle from the first half of the 13th century.
Na Turoldu Cave (www.caves.cz) In the stone quarry behind the last houses of Mikulov the entrance into the cave “Na Turoldu” can be found. It is a world marvel, having been created in Jurassic limestone and lacking the typical dripstones. The walls are decorated with small cavities filled with crystals of calcite.
Svatý kopeček (the Holy Hill) A partly preserved Way of the Cross from Mikulov will bring you to the Holy Grave. In the most prominent place the Chapel of St. Sebastian and a bell tower are placed. The Holy Hill is a nature reserve with rare thermophilic flora.
Mikulčice(www.mikulcice-valy.info) Three kilometres south-east of the village Mikulčice on the banks of the Morava River there used to be an ancient Slavonic fortified settlement in the period from the 6th to the 10th centuries, one of the main centres of Great Moravia. Apart from making a tour round the foundations of 12 churches, a great nobleman´s palace, remnants of the fortification, three bridges and more than 2 500 uncovered graves, the visitor can see two permanent exhibitions of archeological finds.
The Pohansko Region Only 4 km south of Břeclav there are remnants of a significant Great Moravian fortified settlement called Pohansko.
The Border Chateau
Archbishop Chateau and Gardens Kroměříž The Archbishop Chateau in Kroměříž with its complex of beautiful gardens was entered on the UNESCO List of World Heritage in 1998. The origin and development of the earlier castle and later chateau, which were used as bishop and archbishop residences, is closely connected with the history of the Archbishopric in Olomouc. There used to be an ancient fortified settlement on the site of the contemporary chateau even in the time of the Great Moravian Empire. A Gothic castle was built in its place in the 13th century. In the beginning of the 16th century it was rebuilt in Renaissance style. It was heavily damaged by the Swedish army during the Thirty Years´ War. Bishop Karl II. of Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn decided to replace it by an ostentatious early-Baroque palace. The chateau interiors are richly decorated. A large number of original period furniture and art collections have been preserved until today. Worth seeing are the throne hall, the assembly hall, the vassal hall as well as the hunting hall, the tsar hall and the old library. The chateau library can boast paintings by prominent European painters of the 15th–18th centuries. Represented are masters such as Tizian, Lucas Cranach Senior, Hans von Aachen, Paolo Veronese or Jan Brueghel Senior. The local collection of paintings is the second most valuable of its kind in the Czech Republic.
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The Archbishop Chateau
Archbishop Chateau and Gardens Kroměříž Attached to the chateau is the beautiful Podzámecká zahrada (the Garden under the Chateau) and the breath-taking French-style Květná zahrada (the Flower Garden) with an exceptionally valuable historical park architecture. The Garden under the Chateau originally supplied the chateau with fresh vegetables and flowers. Later it was set in Renaissance and Baroque styles to be turned into a 64-hectare romantic English park in the 19th century. The Flower Garden in its geometrically symetrical shape has a square and a circle mazes nad walls of trimmed trees and bushes. The visitors will also be attracted by the Lion Fountain and the Tritone Fountain.
Contact data Sněmovní náměstí 1 767 01 Kroměříž tel. / fax: 573 502 011 e-mail: zamek@azz.cz, www.azz.cz
The Interior of the Rotunda in the Flower Garden
The Archbishop Chateau from the Garden under the Chateau
Archbishop Chateau and Gardens Kroměříž Opening hours Archbishop Chateau April and October only weekends 9–16 + group reservations May, June and September 9–17 except Mondays and days following a holiday July and August 9–18 except Mondays and days following a holiday
Podzámecká zahrada (the Garden under the Chateau) Open all the year round, in summer 7–19, in winter 7–16
Květná zahrada (the Flower Garden) Open all the year round, in summer 7–19, in winter 7–16
Transportation from Brno By car: along motorway D1 direction Olomouc. Take exit number 230 Vyškov to road number 47 direction Kroměříž. Total distance – 67 km. By bus: from Brno, ÚAN Zvonařka (the Zvonařka Central Bus Station ) to Kroměříž By train: Brno, hlavní nádraží (the main station) to Kojetín, change trains for Kroměříž
The Colonade in the Flower Garden
The Flower Garden
Archbishop Chateau and Gardens Kroměříž Tourist Attractions on the Route from Brno to Kroměříž Bučovice Castle (www.bucovice-zamek.cz) Bučovice Castle ranks among the pearls of Moravian Renaissance architecture. Visitors will be attracted by the noble arcades in the courtyard and the tour round the halls with rich stucco and painting decorations on the ceilings.
Nesovice (http://nesovice.cz) In the village part called Nové Zámky there is an unfinished Renaissance castle representing an entirely unique experiment to apply the structure of an Italian town castle in local environment. It is closed to the public at present.
Pustiměř (www.pustimer.eu) Near St. Peter and Paul´s Church there are remnants of the stonework of the 11th century St. Pantaleon´s Rotunda.
Střílky (www.korycansko-zdounecko.cz/strilky) Střílky can boast a late Baroque cemetery with interesting sculptural decorations.
The Colonade in the Flower Garden
Garden under the Chateau
Trinity Column Olomouc The Trinity Column is the largest group of Baroque statues arranged in one complex in the Czech Republic at all. It differs by its artistic value, rich figurative decorations and its height of 35 metres from other comparable monuments in a very significant way. For this reason it was put on the UNESCO List of World Heritage in 2000. The idea of building a plague column in the Upper Square (Horní náměstí) in Olomouc as a sign of thanksgiving for the ending of the plague outbreak in the town and celebration of faith and the catholic church is ascribed to Wenzel Render, the master stonemason. He started the work in 1716 and built the first floor with the cylindrical chapel. The work was continued by other artists and masters until 1754. Neither Render, nor his successors, Franz Thoneck, Jan Václav Rokytský and Augustin Scholtz, lived long enough to witness the consecration of the masterpiece. It was finished by Rokytský´s son, Jan Ignác. The magnificent sculptural decoration was begun by Philip Sattler. After his death the work was overtaken by Andreas Zahner, the remaining sculptures were finished by his disciple, Franz Scherhauf. Simon Forstner, a goldsmith from Olomouc, is the author of the monumental group of the Holy Trinity together with Archangel Gabriel on the top of the column. Forstner also created a smaller group of St. Mary´s Assumption on the front wall of the polygon. Both groups of statues, made from copper, are gold-plated.
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The Trinity Column from the East
Trinity Column Olomouc Statues of 18 larger-than-life saints are placed on three floors above each other on the corners of the polygon. On the upper floor are saints related to Jesus Christ´s earthly life. The middle floor is lined by statues of Moravian and Bohemian saints, to name but Constantine and Methodius, St. Adalbert, and St. John of Nepomuk. On the lowest level there are statues of St. Wenceslas, St. Florian, St. John of Kapistrana, St. Aloysius of Gonzaga and the statues of 12 torch-bearers. The decoration is completed by the reliefs of the 12 Apostles. When finished, the column was ceremonially consecrated by the Bishop of Olomouc and Cardinal Troyer. Empress Maria Theresa accompanied by her husband, Francis I. of Lotringen, was present at the ceremony. According to the period sources the total expenses on the Trinity Column reached the incredible amount of 150 000 guilders. The citizens of Olomouc have always been immensely proud of this masterpiece, especially of the fact that it was made exclusively by artisans and artists from their own town.
Contact data Informační centrum Olomouc (Information Centre Olomouc) Horní náměstí – radnice (Upper Square – Town Hall) 77911 Olomouc tel.: 585 513 385 fax: 585 220 843 e-mail: infocentrum@olomouc.eu www.tourism.olomouc.eu
Opening hours Inside chapel:
April–September 9–14
Transportation from Brno By car: along motorway D1 direction Olomouc. Total distance 80 km By bus: Brno, ÚAN Zvonařka (the Central Bus Station Zvonařka) – Olomouc By train: Brno, hlavní nádraží (the main station) – Olomouc, hlavní nádraží (the main station) The Upper Square, the Trinity Column and the Town Hall
Trinity Column Olomouc Tourist Attractions on the Route from Brno to Olomouc Slavkov (www.slavkov.cz) Except the ostentatious Baroque castle with a court of honour the town offers Jewish monuments. In the very neighbourhood of the castle there is a golf ground. (www.gca.cz)
Mohyla míru (the Peace Memorial) The Peace Memorial built in the period between 1910 and 1912 on a hill near the village of Prace commemorates all the victims of the Battle of Three Emperors near Slavkov in 1805. The permanent exhibition housed in the nearby museum makes the visitors acquainted with the course of the battle and its historical context.
Žuráň Hill The top of Žuráň Hill, from which Napoleon was controling the battle, offers the visitor a view of the rolling landscape of the battlefield of Slavkov. The relief map shows the positions of each of the fighting armies.
Santon Hill Not far from the village of Tvarožná Santon Hill rises, which was an important supporting point of the French army´s left wing. The chapel on the top bears memorial plagues with the names of the commanders of the French and the Russian troups that encountered each other not far from here.
Stará Pošta (the Old Post Office) (www.staraposta.cz) The original building of the post office where Napoleon I. spent the night after the Battle of Slavkov. Nowadays it houses a boarding house, a restaurant and a museum exhibition.
Olomouc, the Historical Town Centre
The Historical Town Centre
Telč
Located in the South-West of Moravia, the town of Telč is one of the most important Bohemian town reserves.The unique urban complex of the historical town centre was put on the UNESCO List of World Heritage in 1992. The historical core of the town, protected by the Štěpnický and the Ulický defence ponds and the gates of the original mural system, has kept its distinctive character of the era of Zacharias of Hradec for centuries. The medieval royal water stronghold from the 13th century protecting the crossroads of merchant roads got its today´s appearance during the 16th century´s reconstruction. Zacharias of Hradec, an admirer of Italian Renaisssance architecture, had his castle residence reconstructed in the same architectonic style and made it one of the most valuable treasures of Renaissance architecture in Czech-speaking countries. The historical halls of the chateau with wooden coffered ceilings – the Blue, the Golden or the Knight´s Halls, make the visitor astonished with their ostentatious decorations, period furnishing and valuable collections. The former burgrave´s residence houses a museum with ethnographic collections and an exhibition presenting the history of the town. A garden designed in an interesting way and a park in English style are attached to the chateau.
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The Town Reserve
The Historical Town Centre
Telč
Among the most charming attractions of the town is the town square lined by a unique complex of historical houses built on narrow and far-into-background-running sites of original wooden houses destroyed by a 14th-century fire. The typical arcades of the houses were being built during the 15th century. The Renaissance facades of the houses appeared in the 16th century but a lot of them were gradually adapted so that the majority show features of Baroque and subsequent architectonic styles. The town square is adorned by two fountains and a Marian Column built in 1720. The oldest architectonic sight of the town is the 49 m tall, late-Romansque tower of the Holy Spirit from the early13th century. The adjacent church was rebuilt in the end of the 15th century in Gothic style. The relics of the late-Gothic bulwark with the Great and the Small Gates close the South-Eastern border of the town. Other places of interest in Telč are the area of the former Jesuitic College with the Church of Jesus´ Name and the parish church of St. James, the foundation stones of which were laid in the 14th century.
Contact data Informační středisko Městského úřadu Telč (The Information Centre of the Municipal Authorities in Telč) Náměstí Zachariáše z Hradce 10, 588 56 Telč tel.: 567 112 407, 567 112 408, fax: 567 112 403 e-mail: info@telc-etc.cz, www.telc-etc.cz View of the Square
The Holy Spirit Tower
The Historical Town Centre
Telč
Opening hours at the chateau April and October May–September November–March Lunch break
Renaissance halls 9–16 9–17 closed 11.45–13.00
Halls of residence closed 9–17 closed
Sight-seeing tours out of season available by appointment with castle management.
Transportation from Brno By car: along motorway D1 direction Prague. Take exit Brno-Kývalka for road number 23 direction Telč. Total distance – 95 km. By bus: Brno, Benešova třída, the Grand Hotel – Jihlava, changing buses direction Telč By train: Brno, Main Station – Kostelec u Jihlavy, changing trains direction Telč
Tourist Attractions on the Route Brno – Telč Automotodrom (the Motor Racing Circuit) (www.automotodrombrno.cz) The Brno Motor Racing Circuit is hidden in the woods west of the town. Every August it hosts the World Motorcycle Championship.
Rosice Chateau ( http://zamek.rosice.cz) The most valuable architectonic sight of Rosice is the chateau with Renaissance arcades in the courtyard and an Empire facade.
Museum of Industrial Railways (www.mpz.cz) The Museum of Industrial Railways is being constructed in the neighbourhood of the former Jindřich II. mine next to the road from Babice to Zbýšov. The Chateau Garden
The Jewish Town and the Basilica of St. Procopius Třebíč The complex of St. Procopius´ Basilica, the Jewish Town and the Jewish Cemetery in Třebíč has been a part of the UNESCO World Heritage since 2003. The Jewish Town of Třebíč is the only Jewish sight out of the territory of Izrael which has been put on the UNESCO List of World Heritage. Once Třebíč used to be a significant centre of Jewish culture in Moravia and the remarkably preserved Jewish Town has remained a witness of coexistence of the Jews and the Christians. The first Jewish inhabitants may have come to Třebíč as early as the 13th century. However, the biggest number of Jewish settlers came in the second half of the 17th century. The unique Jewish Town will make the visitors walk along its winding lanes, dark corners, arched passages and romantic small squares. It numbers up to 120 residential houses. It also includes the buildings of former Jewish institutions, e.g. the town hall, the school, the rabbinic residence and the poorhouse. The synagogue in the rear has been completely reconstructed. Its interior is decorated by unique wall paintings from the beginning of the 18th century.
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The Former Benedictine Monastery with St. Prokopius´ Basilica
The Jewish Town and the Basilica of St. Procopius Třebíč The Jewish Cemetery was founded on the Northern slope of Hrádek Hill in the 17th century and it counts 3 000 tombstones placed in a full-grown park. A part of the cemetery is a ceremony hall from 1903 with a uniquely preserved interior where burial ceremonies according to the old Jewish traditions take place even nowadays. The origin of St. Prokopius´ Basilica is related to the history of the Benedictine Monastery in Třebíč. The cathedral, originally dedicated to Virgin Mary´s Assumption, was newly dedicated to the Czech Saint, Prokopius, after its reconstruction at the beginning of the 18th century. The cathedral was probably being built in the period between 1240 and 1260, almost continuously, without any significant interruptions, in the so called transitional architectonic style. The overall concept of a three-nave cathedral is Romanesque in style but it also shows the new elements of the taking over Gothic architecture. An example of the coexistence of the two styles is the purely Romanesque structure of the big apsis and the cross vault in the crypt under the chancel. One of the most valuable elements of the cathedral is the North entrance portal dating from the first half of the 13th century. The cathedral, ravaged during the seige by the Hungarian troops in 1468, consequently falling into disrepair, was subsequently repaired several times. However, from the mid-16th century it was used predominantly for secular purposes. In the era of John Joseph of Wallenstein it was profoundly reconstructed by the architect František Maxmilián Kaňka in 1725– 1733. The devastated vault was replaced by the Baroque net vault and two western towers were built up in the Baroque-Gothic style. The final reconstruction of the basilica took place between 1924 and 1935 to architect Kamil Hilbert´s design.
Contact data Informační a turistické centrum Malovaný dům (the Information and Tourist Centre Malovaný dům) Karlovo nám. 53, 674 01 Třebíč tel.: 568 847 070, tel.: 568 610 021 e-mail: info@kviztrebic.cz www.trebic.cz/unesco
The Romanesque Crypt under the Basilica
The Jewish Town and the Basilica of St. Procopius Třebíč Opening hours Zadní synagoga (the Rear Synagogue) Monday–Sunday
9–12 and 13–17
The Jewish Cemetery Daily from Sunday to Friday Saturday, on Sabbath, closed from Friday night to Saturday night May–September 8–20 October, March, April 8–18
St. Prokopius´ Basilica Open all the year round Saturday–Monday 13–17, Tuesday–Friday 9–12 and 13–17
Transportation from Brno By car: along motorway D1 direction Prague. Take exit 182, Brno-Kývalka, for road number23 direction Třebíč. Total distance – 60 km By bus: Brno, ÚAN Zvonařka (the Central Bus Station Zvonařka) – Třebíč By train: Brno, hlavní nádraží (the main station) – Třebíč
The Vault in St. Prokopius´ Basilica
The Jewish Town and the Basilica of St. Procopius Třebíč Tourist Attractions on the Route from Brno to Třebíč Dolnokounický zámek (Dolnokounický Chateau) (www.zamekkounice.cz) Hidden under the Renaissance exterior, this is a unique castle of kastel type. A lot of late-Gothic and Renaissance architectonic elements have been preserved in this structure.
Rosa Coeli (www.dolnikounice.cz) An unparalleled ruin of a Premonstratensian Convent in Dolní Kounice, which came into existence in the period between 1181 and 1183. Other significant monuments in the town are the newly adapted Synagogue, the Jewish Cemetery and the pictoresque St. Anthony of Padua´s Chapel on a hill above the Jihlava river.
Ivančice (www.ivancice.cz) The most striking building in the town is the Gothic Church of Virgin Mary´s Assumption with a tower from the break of the 16th and the 17th centuries. The most interesting ancient house in the square is the Gothic-Renaissance Old Town Hall. It houses an exhibition dedicated to the most famous native of the town, Alfons Mucha.
Řeznovice(www.kostel-reznovice.isidorus.net) A remarkable Romanesque building in Brno region is the Church of St. Peter and Paul in Řeznovice, built in the second half of the 12th century.
The Interior of the Rear Synagogue
Tombstones in the Jewish Cemetery
The Pilgrimage Church of St. John of Nepomuk
Žďár nad Sázavou
The Pilgrimage Church at Zelená Hora near Žďár nad Sázavou is probably the most distinctive work by Jan Blažej Santini-Aichel, the Czech architect of Flamish origin. The church, surrounded by a cloister, was built in the Baroque-Gothic style, a unique architectonic style combining the Baroque with the Gothic means of expression. It was built in 1719–1722 in connection with the intended canonization of John of Nepomuk. The church was constructed on the outline of a five-pointed star. The symbol of five repeats several times in the building. The area has five entrances, five chapels and five altars in the interior, five stars and five angels decorate the main altar. The magic number of five symbolizes the five wounds of Jesus Christ as well as the five letters in the Latin “tacui” – I was silent. A legend has it that the Saint did not give away the confession secret of Queen Sophia, King Wenceslas IV´s wife, even when being tortured in a cruel way. The King had him thrown into the river where a five-star gloriole appeared in the place where the Saint had drowned.
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The Pilgrimage Church of St. John of Nepomuk
The Pilgrimage Church of St. John of Nepomuk
Žďár nad Sázavou
A play of light and shadow, typical also of this building by Santini, shapes the interior of the church. The central space of the church is flooded by light coming through bent arches from outside and in spite of its robustness the whole shrine has an airy appearance. Due to the effects of light, no ornaments or opulent Baroque frescos are needed to decorate the space The church and a small cemetery are surrounded by a cloister, shaped in a ten-pointed Marian star, protecting the pilgrims against nasty weather. The relation between the ten-pointed Marian star and the five-pointed John´s star refers to the connection of the former monastery in Nepomuk to the monastery in Žďár where the monks fled from a devastating fire of the former. Their previous home was kept alive at least in the name of Zelená Hora (the Green Mountain). This masterpiece of Santini´s work at Zelená Hora was put on the UNESCO List of World Heritage in 1994.
Contact data Zelená Hora - památkový areál (the memorial area) 591 02 Žďár nad Sázavou 2 tel.: 566 622 855 sightseeing tours: 724 758 993 e-mail: zel.hora@telc.npu.cz www.npu.cz
Opening hours May – September 9–17, closed on Monday April and October 9–17, open on Saturdays, Sundays and on holidays other days only reservation in advance for groups of at least 10 people
The Dome of St. John of Nepomuk´s Church
The Pilgrimage Church of St. John of Nepomuk
Žďár nad Sázavou
Transportation from Brno By car: along the motorway D1 direction Prague. Take exit 162 in Velká Bíteš for road number 37 direction Žďár nad Sázavou. Total distance – 77 km. By bus: Brno, ÚAN Zvonařka (the Zvonařka Central Bus Station) – Žďár nad Sázavou By train: Brno, hl. nádraží (the main station) – Žďár nad Sázavou
Tourist Attractions on the Route Brno - Žďár nad Sázavou Porta Coeli (www.muzeumbrnenska.cz/predklasteri.htm) In Předklášteří the visitor will be captivated by the three-nave basilica built in the transitional Romanesque-Gothic style. The most beautiful part of the church is the richly decorated portal bearing the same name as the monastery – Porta Coeli (Gate to the Heaven)
Jeskyně Blanických rytířů (the Cave of the Knights of Blanice) (www.rudka.cz) An artificially carved cave with sculptures by Stanislav Rolínek. Due to his untimely death in 1931, the decoration of the cave has never been finished. Guided tours only.
Kořenec (www.korenec.cz) A village located high in the Drahanská vrchovina (the Drahanská Highlands). The museum demonstrates the village life and the local firefighting equipment. Other attractions of the place are a windmill and a golf ground (www.sokrates-golf.cz).
Pernštejn (www.hrad-pernstejn.cz) A robust Gothic castle in the neighbourhood of Nedvědice. It was built into its today´s appearance by the Lords of Pernštejn in the 15th and the 16th centuries.
Night View of St. John of Nepomuk´s Church
the Mikulčice-Kopčany Archeological Park The Candidate for a UNESCO-Listed Monument (www.mikulcice-valy.info) Stretching three kilometres south-east of the today´s village of Mikulčice, there used to be a Slavonic clay fortified settlement near the Morava River, in its time one of the main centres of Great Moravia, which may even have been the capital town of the then empire. An important centre of power, culture and religion, it was probably one of the places where the Apostles, St. Constantine and St. Methodius, were fullfilling their tasks. Its 10-hectare area makes it the largest preserved Slavonic archeological site in the Czech Republic. Apart from a tour round the finds of foundations of 12 churches, a nobleman´s palace, the relics of massive fortification, three bridges and more than 2 500 uncovered graves, visitors can go through two permanent exhibitions of archeological finds dating to the 7th -9th centuries A.D. The area is protected as the Mikulčice-Valy National Cultural Monument. In 1963 the Memorial of Great Moravia was established on the premises. In the connection with the fortified settlement in Mikulčice the church of St. Margaret of Antiochea was built on the Slovak bank of the Morava river near the village of Kopčany. It is also regarded as the oldest existing ecclesiastic structure in central Europe. The South-Moravian preservationists are trying to achieve putting the Mikulčice – Kopčany Archeological Park on the UNESCO List of World Heritage. The nomination documents have been handed over in Paris and the decision will be taken in summer 2009. BRNO
HODONÍN
mikulčice
Mikulčice - foundations of a church
827 km Hamburg 560 km Berlin
PL
D
440 km Poznan 245 km Wroclaw
D8 Praha
Ostrava Olomouc
Plzeň D5 Jihlava
D1 Brno D1
590 km München 734 km Frankfurt
SK
D2 A
52
110 km Wien 300 km Linz 850 km Venezia 1 225 km Rome
120 km Bratislava 355 km Budapest
Žďár nad Sázavou Olomouc Telč
Brno
Kroměříž
Třebíč
Lednice Valtice
Mikulčice
www.jizni-morava.cz Published by: South-Moravian Tourist Authority, Radnická 2, CZ - 602 00 Brno Texts by Sdružení České dědictví UNESCO, Photographs: © Sdružení České dědictví UNESCO, Production: Propag servis Brno, Advertum, Published in 2008