Mikulov

The historical town of Mikulov is in South Moravia, only a few kilometres away from Brno near the border of the Czech Republic and Austria. And like all the towns and villages in South Moravia, Mikulov is also surrounded by vineyards. It is the warmest area in the Czech Republic, where vines are doing very well and where wine-growing has a centuries-long tradition.

Mikulov was founded at the beginning of the 12th century upon the establishment of a market settlement, which was promoted to a town in 1410. The Baroque chateau was built in the 17th century instead of the Romanesque and Gothic castle. Mikulov was owned by the Lichtenstein family from the end of the 13th century to the end of the 16th century, and then by the Ditrichstein family until the 19th century. The Ditrichstein family owned the chateau and the local farm estate until 1945 when the chateau burned out.

When you go on a tour of the chateau, you will walk through history. For example, the preliminary conditions of truce between France and Austria were negotiated there after the Battle of Slavkov on 2 December 1805.

What not to miss

The Baroque chateau is the dominant of Mikulov and is now also the seat of the Regional Museum of Mikulov, where you can find the most extensive domestic exposition on wine-growing and wine-making, including a unique giant wine barrel. The picture gallery will remind you of the Dichtristein family under whose reign the town flourished for several centuries. You should also visit the chateau library and the Romans and Germans in the Region under Pálava exposition, which talks about the inhabitants of the region two thousand years ago.

Mikulov legend

Cardinal Ditrichstein is forever included in the history of Mikulov as, according to legend, he stopped the frisky fun that took place on a hill called Tanzberg in 1622. It was a year of the plague epidemic and the Cardinal had the Chapel of St. Sebastian built on the hill to express his gratitude. The hill has been called Svatý kopeček (Holy Hill) ever since, and you can get there from the town along the early Baroque Stations of the Cross with chapels. The Ditrichstein tomb is in the former Church of St. Anna on the main square in Mikulov.