Southern Moravia
Visitors are attracted to this region for its legendary hospitality and the openness of the local people, as well as for the rich folklore tradition associated with the wine industry, established here by the Romans. The capital of South Moravia (and Moravia) and the second largest city in the Czech Republic, Brno is the proud custodian of a quite unique UNESCO-listed building - the functionalist Villa Tugendhat. The Lednice-Valtice area, the largest landscaped park in the world, also features on the list of World Cultural Heritage Sites.
Mother Nature has been generous to the region, and the Moravian Karst with its incredible dripstone caves, the Pálava biosphere reserve, the White Carpathian Mountains and the Podyjí National Park are all must-sees. Architecture fans shouldn't miss the Early Gothic Porta Coeli Monastery in Předklášteří u Tišnova, the fairytale Gothic-Renaissance Pernštejn Chateau and Slavkov u Brna, where a re-enactment of a famous Napoleonic battle takes place every year.
Where to from boredom...?
Brno
This is a city where the functionalist style of architecture
took a firm hold. Sights include the
UNESCO-protected Villa Tugendhat, the Brno trade
fair grounds and the Avion, one of the narrowest
hotels in Europe. The most prominent buildings are
the neo-Gothic Cathedral of SS Peter and Paul and
Baroque Špilberk Fortress.
Mikulov
Above the town rises a Baroque chateau which looks
out across the Pálava Hills. The town’s old square
with its rows of townhouses is dominated by the
Dietrichstein Mausoleum. One of several precious
Jewish monuments is a synagogue of the so-called
Polish type, the only one found in Moravia.
Podyjí National Park
The smallest national park in the country is centred
around the valley of the River Dyje which meanders
through a landscape of cliff s and rock faces. Many
rare plants and animals such as the otter and the
marmot thrive in the unpolluted environment of
this protected area.
Archaeology around Mikulčice
This unique and well preserved fort dating back
to the Great Moravian Empire (early medieval period)
is the largest archaeological fi nd relating to
the early Slavs in the country. A walk through the
exposed foundations of several churches, palaces,
rotundas and basilicas can be concluded at an exhibition
of fi nds dating back to between the 7th
and 9th centuries.
Moravia carst
This is a large karst area with four caves open to
the public. The most frequented is the Punkevní
Cave, named after the underground river which
fl ows through it, and along which visitors travel in
small boats. The tour takes you to the bottom of the
almost 140m-deep Macocha Abyss.
...and where next...?
Pálava, Valtice, Milotice, Vizovice, Strážnice …
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