A Weekend in the Country: Moravia and Znojmo

A few weekends ago, taking advantage of some Czech national holidays, some friends and I decided it was time for a weekend away. None of us had gone to Moravia, the other main region which, along with Boemia, makes up Czechia.

Poor Czech Silesia never gets any love.

So, off we went to Moravia, famous for its wine country and relatively more rural life. Specifically, we went to Znojmo, in the South Moravian region. How far south? 

See it down there? That's how far south.

Znojmo is over 200 km (125 miles) from Prague, but it's very close to the Austrian border (about a 15 minute drive), so it's not surprising that this fortress hill town overlooking the Dyje (Thaya) River has been the site of numerous battles and sieges throughout history, with everyone from the Austrians to the Swedes to Napoleon himself getting a look in. Some version of Znojmo castle has been occupied since the 9th century, and Znojmo was made an official "town' in the early 1200s. Once home to the Moravian branch of the ancient Czech ruling Přemyslid dynasty and a succession of noble families, the town is now mainly known for it's historic buildings, old city walls, and wine.

And views like this.

In addition to the classic Czech trinity of historical building types--castles, churches, and town halls--Znojmo has two other treeats for the visitor: walls and tunnels. Znojmo still boasts a large number of its medieval city walls which (not always successfully) defended the town from invaders. Beginning in maybe the 1200s, Znojmo was the most heavily fortified town between Vienna to the south and Prague to the north. 

We happened upon some folks doing a lesson in medieval swordfighting in the shadow of the walls.
As the lesson was in Czech, my swordfighting skills remain poor.

In addition, undearneath Znojmo run some 23km (14 miles) of tunnels and catacombs spread out over 4 levels, largely underneath the oldest parts of the city. They seem to date back to the 1400 and 1500s, when they originally built underneath individual shops for storage--especially of Moravian wine--but they eventually were connected to make one massive network, much of which was only rediscovered recently. As you might expect from tunnels built to hide things, there's not a lot of information about what they were used for, how often, etc., so the tour (which my friends and I took) embellishes pretty freely with tales of gnomes and a possible alchemist. However, silly "scary" displays aside, the tunnels themselves are pretty cool and it was quite fun wandering around beneath the city.

Confined, confusingly laid out dark spaces underground--do they really *need* the silly stories to make them scary?

However, if town halls, castles, and churches are your bag, Znojmo offers plenty there, as well. While fires and wars have destroyed most of the medieval town hall, the 15th century town hall tower has survived, standing like a beacon in the center of town.

Easily recognized from the distinctive roof.

That roof is very distinctive, right? It was originally slate, but they replaced it with copper several hundred years ago.

Originally built as a Přemyslid family fortress (that's that family that bore Vaclac, aka Wenceslaus), Znojmo castle was an important defense against Austrian invasion. Once Austria and the Czech lands were part of the same empire, however, the significance of the castle fell, with parts of it falling into disrepair or collapsing. It changed hands several times before the castle and its lands were sold off to various buyers. The only part of the original Přemyslid castle that remains is the Rotunda of St. Catherine.

Which looks like, but isn't, a grain silo.

Like the St. Martin's Rotunda in Prague's Vyšehrad castle complex, St. Catherine's Rotunda was built in the Romanesque style--so, pre-Gothic, probably around 1050 or so--and it was designed as a chapel for the castle. Inside are thousand-year-old frescoes honoring the Přemyslid family, though, since access is highly limited, and tours fill up quickly, we didn't get to see them oursleves. Alas. However, since they can't be photographed, anyway, it's not as if I would have had anything to put here, regardless!

The rest of the castle buildings were either converted or demolished. In the place where the main castle building was now stands what is commonly called Znojmo Castle, but it's actually more a Baroque chateau, along the lines of Troja Chateau, minus the art or gardens. It was actually undergoing a pretty extensive rennovation, and the entire upper floor was esentially closed, which meant we saw just a few rooms and then several "fine arts" museum-type displays of furniture, art, and antiques. It wasn't a complete disappointment, but it was certainly at least a partial one.

The Rotunda in the middle right--the chateau is peeking out the left-hand-side.

However, just outside the castle, beside the Rotunda, perched on the side of the hill, there was a rather large and pleasant seating area, complete with a refreshment stand selling beer, local Moravian wine, and Czech snacks. If I go again, I'll try for the Rotunda again, but probably skip the castle and just enjoy the view.

Looking down at the river from our table as we enjoyed our wine. Well, I had lemonade, but the idea's the same.

The castle, snack stand, and Rotunda are all located on one of two craggy outcroppings that hang over the Dyje river valley. On the other, stands the impressive Church of St. Nicholas and its neighboring Chapel of St. Wenceslas.

Originally built in the 12th century, a large fire in 1335 destroyed the original St. Nicholas, which was rebuilt in the Gothic style, though later additions to the outside have given it a simple, clean look.

The church tower is the most recent addition, added in the 18th century at what we might think of as the "wrong" end of the church, behind the chancel (the part of the church with the altar), as opposed to over the nave (where the congregation sits). As a side note, if you're going to do any church touring in Europe, which I highly recommend, memorize the parts of a church or cathedral. Or bring a map or dictionary or something. Becuase, while many places do have English information, they rarely explain the numerous parts of a church. Anyway, moving on...

The interior of St. Nicholas is that blend of Gothic design and Baroque interiors that is so common of old Czech churches. St. Nicholas is notable especially for its Baroque pulpit in the shape of a globe, which really is pretty cool.

The pulpit. Cool, right?

Right outside the main entry to the church is a lovely shrine to Jesus which, when framed against the setting sun, is really quite something.

Beside St. Nicholas is the older and slightly weirder St. Wenceslas Chantry. It's a double chapel, with two chapel spaces on top of each other, surrounded by balconies and walkways overlooking the river valley below.

The balcony is a great place to watch the sun set over the river valley and the castle complex.

Nestled between the outcroppings that house Church and State, as it were, is the Old Town, often called "the Hollow." Unlike the Old Town in Prague or many other Czech cities, the Znojmo Old Town, tucked almost imperceptibly between the castle area and St. Nicholas, but a good 80-100 meters below them, was, for centuries, where the city's poorest and least respectable citizens lived. Today, there are no grand monuments or large palaces; rather, the Hollow features a rather higgledy-piggledy network of walkways and stairs between houses that almost seem stacked on top of one another. Now, as part of the overall tourist-ification of Znojmo, it's no longer populated by the undesirables. Well, apparently many artists spend time there, so, maybe that depends. But it's certainly a beautiful place for a walk and a rest on a bench.

Even here, Znojmo's fortifications show themselves, as the Hollow is seperated from the hillside and the river below by a stone wall and only a small door dating from the late Gothic period--the so-called "Black Door"--allows admittance from below.

The Black Door--a lot less spooky that its name suggests.

As I said, no real streets--just paths, stairs, and escarpments.

A weirdly perched angel state overlooks the Hollow.

At least one house in the Hollow looked as if it might be available for sale...

Intrested in visiting Znojmo? I would definitely recommend it, but here are some things to consider:

• The Prague to Znojmo trip is only 200 km, and, via car, should take about two and a half hours. HOWEVER, it goes along the notoriously congested and traffic-prone (by Czech standards) D1 highway that locals tend to avoid at all costs. If you're driving maybe plan on taking one of the side road routes that take about 3 hours. Or, take the D1 and hope for the best. :-)
• The bus and the train can both get you to Znojmo--to essentially the same place in Znojmo, at that--but the train service is not direct (you transfer to a local train) and it adds a solid two hours to the travel time. Now, the bus *does* use the dreaded D1, but I find traffic can be tolerated much better when you're merely a passsenger. That said, the train had a very nice dining car and offered beautiful views all through Bohemia and Moravia, so, caveat emptor either way, I suppose.
• While Znojmo is a city of 30,000 or so people, its downtown tourist area is quite quiet. It is wine country, but it is not, as far as we could tell, a party town in the least. It's for families, fans of history, and people who want to relax--and cyclists. Lots of cyclists. Even many basic stores like potraviny (a Czech catch-all that would cover everything from a small corner store to full grocery stores) were closed by 6 on the Saturday evening. So, if you're looking to dance the night away, look elsewhere.
• If you don't speak any Czech, Znojmo is perfectly fine for you. Restaurants have multi-language menus, and even the city-placed tourist markers gave information in mutliple languauges. English maps are easy to come by, and everywhere we went had at least some information in English. German and Russian are also popular.
• There is public transport around the town, but as long as you stay within the area shown on the maps of the town center, you shouldn't need it. There are lot of hills and stairs, but it's a very walkable city.

So, go, explore Moravia--maybe visit Znojmo?

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