Our region

My region lies in the south of Czech Republic. It is called Southern Moravia and is the largest region in our republic. It has about 2 million inhabitants, covers area about 15 thousand sq. km. It consists of 14 districts. The capital of this region is Brno, situated in the centre. It is the second largest town in the Czech Republic. It lies above the confluence of the rivers Svratka and Svitava. Southern Moravia borders with Austria in the south and with Slovakia in the east. There are lots of woods in our region and it also has the most fertile and agriculture soil. So lots of people living here work in agriculture. We are renowned for our good tasting wine. You can see vineyards everywhere. This is a quite rich region. It has many cultural monuments – castles, chateaux, ruins, natural parks and protested areas. Here area 7 Universities, 18 theatres and 75 museums. In 1997 there were disastrous floods, which caused many damages, especially in district of Zlín, Uherské Hradiště, Kroměříž, Blansko and Hodonín.

The Slovácko region (“Moravian Slovakia”) is the borderland between two historical countries – Moravia and Slovakia. Slovácko is a region of friendly and hospitable people, rich cooking and excellent wine, which has here a long tradition. This is a region of folk songs and dances, folk costumes and feast festivals, which are held every year in almost every village in the summer. Terms for each feast festival in different villages are different, so people can go from one village to another. These feast are followed with many other folklore traditions as a drinking wine, dancing under a green roof made on the open air and also some attractions for children as marry-goes-round and stalls. The biggest town in Slovácko is Hodonín.

There are many treasures in villages near Hodonín:
In village Milotice (Hodonín district), there is a nice chateau with French gardens, which attract many visitors. This chateau was built in the place of former medieval fortress.

In Strážnice (Hodonín d.), there is an Open-Air Museum of folk architecture. This museum is really worth to see. Also famous music festivals are held there. You can find there also the rest of the medieval fortification – two towers from the 16th century-

In our region are also some memories to the Second World War. For example in Svatobořice was built an internment camp and in World War Two it was rebuilt as a camp for Jews and after the war it was rebuilt again as a camp for Germans. Also the bones of mammoth and some old graves were found there.

Vnorovy is the birthplace of Marie Kudeříková, died during WWII. in a concentration camp. On the house, where she was born, there is a memorial tablet, inside there is a small memorial and in front of the house a monument.
One of the oldest castles in our country is in Bítov (Znojmo region). It was built after the Moravia was united to Czech republic.

In Buchlolvice (Uherské Hradiště d.) there is a large baroque castle with beautiful park with many kinds of trees. Near Buchlovice there is Buchlov with an old castle, famous for its unique collection of trays and bowls.
A very nice chateau is in Lednice (Břeclav d.). First it was baroque and than it was rebuilt in neo-Gothic style. There is an English park with a large greenhouse, minaret and Apollon cathedral. Well known is also the agriculture museum.

The first state on our territory was The Empire of Great Moravia. You can find remains in village called Mikulčice. This village was probably a capital of this empire. Today there are carried archaeological researches. Visitors can admire there bases of old churches, basilicas and also old tombs with its treasures – earrings, rings, buttons, pins, chains, which are made very skilfully. You can also admire there two big canoes. It is placed in a nice nature, surrounded by trees and meadows. I think that this place has a special atmosphere and I like visiting it.

Town Mikulov (Břeclav d.) is built in one of the oldest inhabited regions in Centre Europe. It was the place inhabited by the mammoth hunters. There some unique findings of exceptional value, for example a small sculpture of a woman called Věstonická venuše. An old Jewish Synagogue is also worth seeing, as well as the chateau. Above Mikulov there are nice White Palava Hills, with ruins of girls castles.

In our region, there are manyprotected areas – Čelfožnice, Vlčnovský háj, Petrovksé meadows, Písečný pond, Strážnické measows, Váté písky, Žilkův oak, Očovské skály. One of the most attractive is Moravský kras. It is a karst area with many canyons, caves, Macocha Abyss, underground rivers, the best known is the river Punkva. There is almost a thousand caves registered. Kateřinská cave is became renown as a rich site of cave bear bones and a settlement of prehistoric man. The main dome is one of the biggest in Moravian karst and has a great acoustic.

The capital town of this region is Brno. It has about half a million population and covers the area of 230 sq. km. It is the city of trade fairs, which are held in engineering, consumer goods and food industry, housing and building, computer engineering etc. Here are held also some sports events and motorcycle racing. Brno is the one of the centres of industry, the main industrial enterprises are Zbroojvka works, the first Brno engineering works, Královopolská engineering works, Tesla works, Zetor works,… It is centre of culture, arts and science. There are 6 universities, museums, galleries, exhibition halls, theatres, cinemas, cultural houses, hotels, hospitals and other important buildings. In 1243 during the reign of king Wenceslas I. Brno became a royal town. In 1899 the first Czech Technical University in Moravia was founded here. Later in 1919 was founded there another university, called Masaryk university. And the first trade fair here was held in 1928. Brno has also some nice sights. Špilberk castle was originally Přemysl castle. It was rebuilt into a fortress and later it served as “the Prison-house of Nations”. During WWII it became a Gestapo prison. Nowadays, there are exhibition halls. St. Peter and St. Paul’s Cathedral was established in the first half of the 11tgh century and it was rebuilt in a Neo-Gothic Bishop Cathedral. The Old town hall is famous for its exhibits of the Brno dragon. There is also an almost 50m high observation tower. The shopping centre of the town is Liberty Square with adjoining streets. The most famous men who lived or works in Brno: Johann Georg Mendel, a natural scientist and biologist, he discovered the laws of heredity and foundations of genetics. Leoš Janáček was a big musician a composer.