Šatov

Šatov

The poetic and archaic-sounding name of this winemaking village is said to derive from the name of the third wife of the Bohemian King Vratislav II, Svatava. In the 14th century it was colonized by German settlers, who developed the art of winemaking. Its former glory and wealth is still visible today in the splendid and large grape pressing facilities in front of the wine cellars.

The most bizarre wine cellar, however, is a newer one, known as the Painted Cellar. Typical for this region, its corridors are without masonry, just carved directly into the hard sandstone. They are decorated with three-dimensional naive paintings by a one-handed folk artist. For 36 years, every Sunday in these corridors where tours and wine tastings now take place, he would stand with a candle in his hat and create images of village life at that time. Farmers on tractors, Soviet partisans from the Second World War, in which he lost his arm, but also dwarves and still lifes with flowers. It is the picturesque expression of one human mind.