Kroměříž

In the gentle Morava River valley, the Archbishop’s Palace of Kroměříž unfolds as a baroque masterpiece where architecture, horticulture, and political theatre converge. Rebuilt after the Thirty Years’ War by the visionary Bishop Karl II von Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn, the palace became a stage for Habsburg power — most famously hosting the 1848–49 Imperial Diet that drafted the first Austrian constitution. Its state rooms dazzle with original stucco, gilded leather wallcoverings, and a picture gallery holding works by Titian, van Dyck, and Cranach the Elder, including the haunting “Flaming Torch” that once vanished into Nazi looting and was recovered only in 1946. Yet the true glory lies beyond the windows: the Podzámecká Garden, a 64-hectare English landscape park dotted with neoclassical pavilions, a Chinese pavilion reflected in a pond, and avenues of ancient oaks; and the Květná Garden (Flower Garden), a rare surviving Baroque geometric garden where boxwood parterres, citrus orangeries, and a colonnade of 44 statues create a living tableau of 17th-century order. UNESCO inscribed the ensemble in 1998, citing its exceptional preservation of a princely residence and its gardens as a “complete and authentic” cultural landscape. Walking the colonnade at golden hour, with the scent of roses and the chime of the palace carillon, one understands why the bishops called this their “earthly paradise.”

Perched atop a wooded ridge overlooking the Moravian Gate, Helfštýn Castle is a sprawling ruin that whispers of medieval might and Renaissance elegance. Its massive fortifications — among the largest in Central Europe — unfold across five courtyards, where crumbling towers and palace wings frame breathtaking vistas of the surrounding countryside. The castle’s silhouette, a jagged crown against the sky, has inspired legends of the bandit knight Helfštýn, while its well-preserved artillery bastions showcase the evolution of military architecture from the 14th to the 17th century. Today, the site doubles as a living workshop: the annual Hefaiston blacksmithing symposium fills the courtyards with the ring of hammers, forging contemporary iron art amid ancient stones.

Crowning a solitary hill above the Moravian plains, Buchlov Castle stands as a stoic sentinel of medieval power. Founded in the 13th century as a royal defensive fortress, its silhouette is defined by two massive prismatic towers — a rare architectural feature that gives the castle its unmistakable, muscular profile. Unlike many Czech chateaux that softened into Renaissance comfort, Buchlov retains a thrilling austerity; its stark Gothic halls and formidable fortifications whisper of a time when this was the very edge of the kingdom. The castle’s later life as a private aristocratic residence layered on rich Baroque interiors and a remarkable collection of Egyptian antiquities gathered by the Berchtold family, creating a fascinating dialogue between the stern Middle Ages and the curiosity of the Enlightenment. From the ramparts, the view unfurls across the gentle undulations of the Chřiby highlands, a patchwork of vineyards and forests that stretches to the horizon.

Cradled in the gentle valley of the Salaška stream, Velehrad Basilica stands as the spiritual heart of the Czech nation — the place where, in 863, Saints Cyril and Methodius are said to have established the first Slavic liturgy, planting the seeds of Czech Christianity and literacy. The present Baroque basilica, a masterpiece of the Italian architect Giovanni Pietro Tencalla completed in the 1680s, replaced earlier churches destroyed by fire and war. Its monumental façade, flanked by twin towers capped with onion domes, gives way to an interior of breathtaking unity: frescoes by Jan Kryštof Handke sweep across the vaulted nave, depicting the apostles’ mission to Great Moravia, while the high altar enshrines a revered 15th-century Madonna. The adjacent Cistercian monastery, now a pilgrimage center, houses a museum tracing the site’s 1,100-year history through illuminated manuscripts, liturgical vestments, and archaeological fragments from the original 9th-century basilica. Each July, the “Days of People of Good Will” festival draws tens of thousands for ecumenical worship, concerts, and dialogues — a living testament to Velehrad’s enduring role as a bridge between East and West.

The Church of St. Peter and Paul in Kralice na Hané is a quiet village landmark with an outsized place in Czech cultural history. It stands near the site where, in the late 16th century, the Unity of the Brethren secretly printed the Kralice Bible—the first complete translation of the Bible into Czech from the original languages. The nearby Kralice Bible Memorial, housed in a modern exhibition space, tells the story of this clandestine printing operation, the scholars who risked persecution, and the Bible’s lasting impact on Czech language and identity. The church itself, with its modest yet dignified architecture, provides a contemplative setting that underscores the spiritual and intellectual courage behind this landmark work.