Positioned on the very border with Austria, Znojmo (Czech Republic) is without doubt one of the most attention-grabbing but neglected locations to see in Central Europe. It took me years to ultimately go to Znojmo and after I lastly received there I didn’t plan my journey correctly and all of the points of interest have been already closed.
Nevertheless it was a stunning summer time afternoon and I nonetheless loved tremendously wandering across the city and absorbing its nice, laid-back ambiance. It was very easy to fall for Znojmo and I actually wished I may have stayed there longer to get pleasure from it some extra.
If you’re planning a visit to the south of Czech Republic and even to Vienna (Austria), you undoubtedly ought to embody Znojmo in your itinerary. And while you determine to do this – here’s a small information to visiting Znojmo!
The place is Znojmo
Znojmo, the city of round 35 thousand inhabitants, is situated within the very south of the Czech Republic, proper on the border with Austria. Brno, the second-largest metropolis within the nation is a bit over 70 km away from Znojmo whereas Vienna, the capital of Austria, is lower than 90 km away. Brief distance from these two widespread cities makes Znojmo an ideal day journey vacation spot from each, Vienna and Brno.
Why go to Znojmo
Znojmo is thought particularly for its wine traditions which have been cultivated since medieval instances. If you’re into enotourism you merely don’t need to miss this place. However Znojmo is greater than its wine.
The city, picturesquely situated on the excessive cliff above the Thaya river, is definitely filled with points of interest, a few of them as previous because the eleventh century. Znojmo has a protracted and eventful historical past, being situated on the primary buying and selling routes, and you may clearly see it when wandering round and exploring this attention-grabbing place.
Since Znojmo nonetheless isn’t as widespread as different charming cities within the Czech Republic (akin to Cesky Krumlov, Telc or Mikulov), you may come right here to flee crowds and totally get pleasure from its stress-free ambiance.
Methods to get to Znojmo
You may simply get to Znojmo by practice. There are direct connections with Vienna (journey time is 1 hour 40 minutes), to get to Brno that you must change in Breclav (the journey time is a bit over 2 hours). From Brno you can even use direct buses that take round hour to achieve Znojmo.
You may examine practice connections here and buses here.
Bas aid at Znojmo practice station
The place to remain in Znojmo
In case you determine to remain in Znojmo in a single day (which I’m undoubtedly doing subsequent time) listed here are a number of the greatest lodging choices:
What to see in Znojmo
For such a small city, Znojmo is basically filled with points of interest and you have to a minimum of just a few hours to see all of them. Higher plan your journey to Znojmo smarter than I did (I arrived within the afternoon and it was already to see the locations inside).
Again within the medieval instances Znojmo was one of many best-fortified cities in Central Europe. Nonetheless at this time you may see remnants of the previous partitions in addition to 5 towers that remained till at the present time. When arriving to Znojmo Outdated City from the practice station you will notice one of many towers – Wolf one from the 14th century – and a part of the town partitions straight away.
Shortly after you’ll come to the primary sq. of Znojmo Outdated City – Masarykovo náměstí – surrounded by colourful city homes and with the plague column proper within the center. The one constructing that doesn’t actually match right here is the procuring heart however followers of brutalism (like me) will certainly recognize it. From right here you can begin your Znojmo sightseeing tour and discover the maze of winding lanes.
Simply of the primary sq. you may see the Gothic city corridor tower, simply recognizable for its distinctive form. It’s the solely remaining a part of the previous city corridor that was destroyed throughout World Battle 2.
It’s undoubtedly value climbing to the highest of the tower (though the steps are a bit steep and slender) as from up there you may admire the beautiful panorama of Znojmo and environment. On a transparent day you may even see the Alps!
Subsequent to the tower you’ll find the vacationer data level the place you may ask extra about Znojmo and its points of interest in addition to get maps and folders concerning the city.
One other widespread place to see in Znojmo, recognized from the vast majority of footage of the city, is the Church of St. Nicholas, initially from the very starting of the twelfth century (what we will see at this time was constructed between 1338 till and the late fifteenth century) with attention-grabbing Baroque inside.
Subsequent to it you may see St. Wenceslas chapel from 1512, a uncommon instance of the late Gothic two-story temple. The chapel is now used for cultural occasions, akin to exhibitions and live shows.
The world round St. Nicholas church is without doubt one of the greatest viewpoints of Znojmo and the Thaya river gorge. One other good viewpoint is subsequent to the Znojmo fort and the Romanesque Rotunda of Saint Catherine.
The rotunda is the oldest and one of the crucial necessary monuments in Znojmo, the one remaining a part of the fort that used to function the Přemyslid dynasty residence right here because the eleventh century. You may go to the rotunda (solely within the vacationer season from April to September and provided that the humidity isn’t too excessive) and it is best to undoubtedly do this as inside you may see invaluable frescoes from 1134, in all probability the very best instance of the Romanesque work within the Czech Republic.
The fort of Znojmo is situated within the place the place the previous Přemyslid fort was (the one remaining a part of it’s the rotunda talked about above). Because it was destroyed in 1140, the brand new fort was constructed on this place however once more it was in ruins.
Finally, what remained was renovated within the Baroque fashion within the Seventeenth-18th century and the brewery was opened right here in 1720 (it has been working till 2005, now the native beer Hostan is made in Brno). Right this moment you may go to the Museum of Southern Moravia in addition to the Brewery Museum which are situated within the former Znojmo fort.
When you’re on the viewpoints, both subsequent to the St.Nicholas Church or the rotunda, you’ll shortly discover the spectacular railway bridge constructed excessive above the Thaya river gorge. This engineering masterpiece was in-built 1871 as a part of the Vienna-Prague railway line, it’s 220 meters lengthy and 48 meters excessive. Right this moment it’s used for native trains that join Znojmo with Vienna.
One of many greatest points of interest in Znojmo is definitely hidden underground. The city has an in depth complicated of underground tunnels you can go to at this time.
They date again to the medieval instances when the basements of the townhouses have been used first to maintain the meals and wine recent. As soon as the locals realized the basements can even serve the defending goal, the underground rooms have been related, creating a powerful maze of corridors beneath the city, that stretched altogether for 27 km! Within the state of affairs of the assault, Znojmo shortly turned a ghost city, terrifying the attacking military.
Right this moment you may go to Znojmo underground, there are just a few totally different routes obtainable. You may select a traditional route or just a few adrenaline ones which are far more difficult (for instance wading in water, wandering round in the dead of night, or climbing ladders).
As soon as you’re performed with visiting all of the necessary Znojmo landmarks, spend a while wandering across the winding lanes of the previous city, absorbing its laid-back ambiance and having fun with the vibe of the previous instances. There are additionally loads of cafes, native eating places and wine bars the place you may sit down, loosen up, and fall for Znojmo a bit extra. It’s actually not tough to get pleasure from that place!
The place to go subsequent
As soon as you’re performed with visiting Znojmo, you may spend a bit extra time within the area and discover the encircling space too.
Actually on the outskirts of the city you may go to Podyjí Nationwide Park, one of many 4 nationwide parks within the Czech Republic, protected for its near-natural forests alongside the Thaya river. You may also hop throughout the border to see Austria’s Thayatal Nationwide Park, adjoining to Podyjí NP.
Since Znojmo and the area are recognized for its wine, that’s what you can even concentrate on when exploring the world. There are over a thousand wine producers within the area so that you certainly will discover some good wines for your self right here.
One of the crucial distinctive, wine-related locations to go to is “Malovaný sklep” – the painted wine cellar in Šatov, created in all probability on the finish of the nineteenth century with the works of the native artist Max Appeltauer from Nineteen Thirties. You will discover the place some 10km south of Znojmo.
A bit additional, you may go to UNESCO-listed Czech cities – Telc and Trebic, one other charming Moravian city Mikulov with the spectacular fort, or Lednice-Valtice chateau complicated, additionally a part of UNESCO World Heritage Checklist. This a part of the Czech Republic is basically filled with points of interest and attention-grabbing locations but worldwide vacationers sadly don’t actually enterprise right here.
Ultimate ideas on visiting Znojmo
I actually want I did a greater analysis earlier than visiting Znojmo. I knew there are some attention-grabbing monuments to see however I vastly underestimated the city. There are such a lot of wonderful issues to do in Znojmo, extra than simply seeing the monuments, and I actually regretted I didn’t have extra time to correctly benefit from the place (I went there on a day journey from Brno).
If you plan to go to Znojmo don’t repeat my mistake, plan extra simply 3 hours there, examine opening hours of the primary points of interest and use your time in Znojmo to each do the sightseeing and loosen up with the glass of native wine. I wager you’ll benefit from the city this fashion too!
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