Every town has at least one story that combines the unique with the amazing. Mikulov has many. The town grew up along the Amber Trail from the Baltic to the Adriatic; for long centuries it guarded the important border between Austria and Moravia. It was the seat of the powerful noble families Liechtenstein and the Dietrichstein, who turned Mikulov into an important religious center, the capital of Moravian Judaism, a haven for the Anabaptists, and a place of Catholic pilgrimage. In Mikulov people of differing faiths lived alongside one another in peace. Mikulov was an important political center as well, closer to Vienna than to Prague: peace negotiations were held here after the battle of Austerlitz (1805) and the Austria-Prussian War (1866). Today, now that the former Iron Curtain has been dismantled (1989), Mikulov is again the friendly gate to South Moravia, a town with rich heritage, fertile vineyards, and natural beauty.Two famous aristocratic families, the Liechtensteins and the Dietrichsteins, did most to build and beautify Mikulov. Most of what was built by the Liechtensteins was later renovated; thus there are few examples of Gothic architecture (exceptions: parts of the chateau, Kozí hrádek, or the presbytery in the church of St. Václav. Cardinal František Dietrichstein, in the troubled times after the battle of White Mountain (1620), left the greatest legacy. He rebuilt the chateau, built the first Loreta church in the country, invited the Piarist order to found a school, and built the shrines atop the Holly Hill. In 1952 the historic center of Mikulov was declared an Urban Monument Zone.
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Mikulov |
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Regional muzeum in Mikulov |
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MAS "dílna" Advisory Board member list
Stanislav Diviš; Marcela Effenbergerová, project manager; Mgr. Radek Galousek, marketing specialist; Jana Knorr; Rostislav Koštial, Mayor of the Town of Mikulov; Mgr. Petr Kubín, director of the Regional Museum in Mikulov; Libor Lípa, artist and supervisor of MAS; Mgr. Jan Richter, Czech Radio reporter; Kateřina Šílová.