Tips for trips

Graffiti house U Rytířů

The most interesting building in the square is the corner house (building number 11) coming from the times before 1591, with a quadriteral oriel. It is decorated with Renaissance graffiti with biblical and ancient scenes up to the level of the first floor (the second floor was built only in the second half of 19th century); the graffiti date back to the first quarter of the 17th century. The arcade gallery in the yard is worth seeing, too.

Fountain

Around 1700 a fountain was installed in the upper part of the square. It was built in the form of a polygonal stone basin with a prismatic pillar with gargoyles in the centre. It served as a water source for the people living in the inner town. The pillar is decorated with an allegorical sculpture of Pomona carrying a horn of plenty, and a coat of arms of the Dietrichstein family.

The Holy Trinity sculptural group

A monumental Baroque column – the sculptural group of the Holy Trinity in the lower part of the square is worth seeing. It dates back to 1723-1724, and it is sometimes called the Plague Column. The prince Walter Xaver of Dietrichstein ordered the column from the stonemason Andreas Steinböck to be made in accordance with the design by A. J. Prenner, and the sculptures (St. Jan Nepomucký, St. František Xaverský and St. Karel Boromejský) were made by Ignác Lengelacher. The monument standing on a hexagonal stepped base with three Tuscan pillars closed the three-sided pyramid with the symbol of The Holy Spirit standing on the celestial sphere with clouds and angels with the sculptures of The Father and the Christ. The column was repaired in 1897 and then in 1997-1998.

Canonical houses

In the opposite corner František of Dietrichstein had a one-storey house built (building number 4) for the canons of the Mikulovská chapter established in 1625 on a few plots of land. While the house exterior has been preserved in its original Renaissance appearance, with the front decorated with graffiti rustication, the interior was damaged by the pernicious fire in 1784, when it went up in flames and had to be rebuilt.

- the castle and the castle park – the castle park in Mikulov ranks among the largest garden areas of the castle type in the Czech Republic. It consists of numerous garden terraces established on various levels around Zámecký hill. From its establishment at the turn of the 16th century to the end of World War II, it represented one of the very important works of garden architecture. However, during the decades after World War II it wasn’t maintained and it nearly perished. At present, the separate castle terraces are continuously restored by the castle administrator and the owner – Regional Museum in Mikulov and the Regional Council of Jihomoravský region.

The new composition is inspired by the original stage of its development – Italian Baroque garden on terraces. This is due to full destruction of the last implemented version – natural landscape garden of English type, which was destructed and uncovered not only layout of the original Baroque garden (1611-1784) and its dominant, but also the Baroque principle of building the area as a whole. The intellectual and composition links of the garden terraces with the castle interiors and architecture, the town and the surrounding landscape are clearly legible again.

The Jewish Quarter – beginning of the Jewish community in Mikulov dates back to the period after 1421, when the Jews were banished from Vienna and Lower Austria by the Austrian duke Albrecht V. A part of the refugees found the sanctuary in Mikulov, a town located at the border. [6] Another wave came in the period of reign of the Albrecht’s son Ladislav Pohrobek (posthumous child) who routed the Jews out of the Moravian royal towns.

The exiles, despised and routed out in the Middle Ages, settled around the castle, where a separate Jewish Quarter was established after some time, and in 1591 it became a self-governing part of the town, with its own mayor and other privileges.[6]The Jewish Quarter in Mikulov spread after some time, it became more and more important, until it became one of the most important in Moravia.[7] It was the reason why Mikulov became a seat of the Moravian provincial rabbi in the first half of the 16th century. They had their seat there till 1851. This way the town became a cultural centre of the Moravian Jewry. The well-known author of Golem, rabbi Jehuda Löw (1525–1609) became the second provincial rabbi here in 1553–1573.

A few large fires left its mark in the life of the local Jewish community. On 10 August 1719 a large fire destroyed the whole Jewish Quarter. After the ghetto was reconstructed, another fire disaster came in April 1737.[7] In the first half of the 18th century 600 Jewish families lived in Mikulov, and the local Jewish community was the most numerous one in Moravia (there lived nearly 10 % of Moravian Jews).[8] In the first half of the 19th century nearly one quarter of the town inhabitants were the Jews, but after they were granted civil equality in 1848, they started moving in large towns, particularly in Brno and Vienna, where they could live in better economical conditions.

In 1851 the position of the rabbi was divided into the rabbi of Mikulov and the Moravian provincial rabbi. The following rabbis worked in Mikulov: Solomon Quetsch (1855–1856), Mayer Feuchtwang (1861–1888), David Feuchtwang (1892–1903), Moritz Levin (1903–1918), Alfred Willmann (1919–1938).

In the 19th century there were a few fires, but the most devastating were in September  1924, and especially in April 1926, when 91 houses went up in flames.[6] The two last fires give rise to Židovské ústřední museum pro Moravsko-Slezsko (Jewish Central Museum for Moravia and Silesia) that was opened in Mikulov on 24 May 1936. Its founder was JUDr. Richard Teltscher.

The Jewish community in Mikulov perished in World War II. From 472 Jewish inhabitants in 1938, 110 run away abroad from the Nazi. 327 inhabitants didn’t live through holocaust.[6] The community has never been re-established.

At present the monument of formerly large Jewish ghetto with 317 houses, among which more than 90 were built in the Renaissance style, includes only the Baroque synagogue used as a Jewish museum, 45 houses protected as cultural monuments [9] and a large Jewish cemetery with a few thousands of tombs. The oldest and the most admired part is so-called “rabbi hill” with tombs of the Moravian provincial and local rabbis and members of the richest families of Mikulov.

Jewish cemetery

Is one of the most admirable Jewish cemeteries in the Czech Republic. In terms of its importance it ranks among the cemeteries in Old Town of Prague and Kolín, and that is why it is one of the oldest and most important cemeteries in Moravia.

Kozí castle 

is one of three rocky dominants of the Town of Mikulov. A long time ago Kozí castle participated in strategic check of the roads connecting Brno and Vienna, and secured the proper protection.

On the top of Kozí hill they built a two-storey artillery tower with a gallery and embrasures in the 15th century. Construction of the tower improved defence technique of Mikulov, particularly of the castle of Mikulov, and this way it obtained very good defence ability admired not only in the region, but also considered as a cultural heritage of the Czech Republic and Central Europe. This late Gothic fortification with sharp edge has been preserved to the present days.

Nature reserve Turold

The cave Na Turoldu is located in the nature reserve on Turold (385 m.a.s.l.) hill. You can find it on the north periphery of the Town of Mikulov, and it is one of the oldest nature reserves on the territory of the present protected landscape area and biospheric reserves.