7 essentials: what to see in Brno, the capital of South Moravia

Maybe you don't know that Brno It is the second city by population in the Czech Republic, and although from a tourist point of view it is not comparable to the great attraction it arouses PragueIt is a city that has interesting corners.

When I visited Brno, because of its buildings and monuments, to a certain extent it reminded me more of Vienna than to Prague itself. In fact, it is located a shorter distance (130 km) from the Austrian capital than from the Czech capital.

When during your trip through the Czech Republic you visit the second city of the country, Brno, you will discover as we did that in reality it is not an enclave with great monuments.

What's more, the greatest pride of Brno, for which it appears in the list of places Heritage, is for a private villa from 1930, an example of functionalist architecture, Villa Tugendhat.

Brno is located in the South Moravian region, and it is a very easy city to visit because its historic center is very concentrated, and you can walk to the most notable places.

In your Brno visit You will move along the axis that makes up Jostova Street, the liberty square, the city center, and the historic Vegetable Market square.

On Jostova Street you find the building of the South Moravian Constitutional Court, as well as the so-called red church of style neo-gothic and headquarters of the evangelical church.

On the way to the Plaza de la Libertad you will pass through the gothic church of Santiago. And on the opposite side of the aforementioned square you can visit the undoubtedly macabre corner of the Capuchin Crypt.

The Vegetable Market Square you will access the Brno cathedral, dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul, which has a curious legend. And already going up a hill you will reach the Brno castle, known as Spilberk, which over time became a prison for European prisoners.

But since it is a city that we really liked and that is worth knowing more about, we are going to detail the places that in our opinion are essential to visit.

1 Brno Cathedral

From the monumental point of view, its Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul It is the most prominent building.

Located in the Petrov hill, very close to the city center and, specifically, its outstanding marketplace, it is a building of Gothic architecture whose origins date back to the beginning of the 13th century, although previously there was a first Romanesque church on the hill.

But when you visit the Brno cathedral, what will catch your attention the most are its architectural contrasts, the result of the numerous and successive renovations that have been carried out in the building over the centuries.

The ornately decorated portico of the cathedral is actually not Gothic, but neo-Gothic, as it was built in 1905.

But the big surprise is found inside, where there is a single baroque-style central nave, which contrasts with the neo-Gothic presbytery from the late 19th century.

Legend of Brno Cathedral

Now, the history of Brno cathedral It is linked to a legend that every day of the year they are responsible for remembering the chimes of noon...at 11 o'clock.

When we visit the cathedral they tell us that during the Thirty Years' WarIn 1645, the inhabitants of Brno were besieged by Austrian troops, offering great resistance.

After three and a half months of siege, the Swedish general said one day that if they were not able to finally take the city before the church bells rang at 12 noon, Petrov hill, they would abandon their purpose and leave.

And what happened? Well, the general who led the resisting troops in Brno,  Louis Raduit de Souches, decided to use a trick that also worked: he ordered that the campaigns would sound at 11 a.m., reducing siege time.

Finally, the Swedish troops abandoned the siege of the city.

Curious legend, which I don't know if it is true, but which has become the tourist icon of the cathedral.

2 Freedom Square in Brno, heart of the Moravian capital

In your Brno visit, capital of the region of South Moravia, and the second city of the Czech Republic, after Prague, you will see that the heart of it is the liberty square.

In the area of ​​pedestrian streets in the city center, at the foot of the castle hill, you find this square that concentrates some of the monuments or most characteristic corners of Brno.

La liberty square, with its triangular shape, is the oldest and largest in Brno.

In the past it was known as the Lower Market Square, I suppose because it is at a lower altitude than the other iconic square in the city center, the Vegetable Market.

Historically it was a square surrounded by buildings where the most noble citizens of Brno resided, but today it will catch your attention due to its architectural contrasts.

What to see in Freedom Square in Brno

On one side of the liberty square the Plague Column, built in 1679 in the Baroque style, a characteristic monument of the main squares of Czech cities.

And as for the buildings that surround the square today, along with several baroque style buildings, with colored facades, you will see others with modern architecture.

But there are undoubtedly two that will catch your attention the most.

On the one hand, the House of the Four Atlanteans, with its four impressive statues that seem to hold the building with great effort, as shown by the features of their faces.

And on the other hand, the House of the Knights of Lipa, a Renaissance-style building, with a beautiful silk-screened façade, from my point of view, the most architecturally beautiful in the square.

Of course, when you are in the Freedom Square in Brno There will be another corner that will be surprising to you...and you will not know what it is about.

Although it may not seem like it at all, that great black metallic pinnacle, to which people approach with curiosity... is a clock.

At least that's what the artist who designed it in 2010 says, who at least has managed to make it one of the great attractions of the square.

During your visit, you should not miss entering the aforementioned House of the Knights of Lipa, whose interior is occupied by a shopping center, with a large central gallery, and take the elevator to the top floor, from where you will access a Ads with a terrace.

There is a viewpoint from where you have excellent panoramic views of the monuments in the center of Brno.

In order to plan your stay in said Czech city, this access to Booking.com to search hotels in Brno.

3 Vegetable Market Square, popular street market in Brno

Towards the south, on the way to the Brno cathedral, you find the Vegetable Market Square, a place where the lively atmosphere of the vegetable market and the historical architecture of the buildings and monuments that make it up combine.

Possibly it will be in the Vegetable Market Square where you can best take the pulse of the city's people.

This square dates back to the 13th century, when the city was created, and has had its current name since the 15th century. This is amply justified because since that time, whether winter or summer, a market is established every day with stalls where vegetables and fruits are sold, which creates great animation.

But in addition to the special charm that the popular market gives to this corner of Brno, you will find yourself in front of a square with buildings of architectural interest and a large fountain in the center of them.

This is the Parnas Fountain. Built in 1695 by an Austrian architect, the fountain symbolizes a natural stone cave, and is decorated with allegorical figures of ancient empires, such as Babylon, Persia and Greece.

Some baroque buildings surround the square, but above all, the Dietichstein Palace, which you see looking towards the cathedral. From the year 1620, it houses some of the rooms of the Moravian museum.

Although perhaps the most notable building is the Reduta Theater, which is considered the oldest theater in Central Europe.

Around the year 1600 it was an inn that housed distinguished guests, but thanks to its large rooms, German and Italian companies soon began to give theatrical performances, and in the XNUMXth century it also became a stage for Czech companies.

In a small adjacent square, at a higher level than the Vegetable Market, there is another theater, and in front of it, a typical Trinity Column.

4 Spilberk Castle in Brno, from medieval fortification to feared European prison

Una Brno visit, it will be incomplete if you do not go up to the Spilberk Castle.

El Spilberk Castle in Brno It gained its greatest fame when in the 19th century, after the Napoleonic era, it became a large prison for political prisoners from all over Europe.

Built in the 13th century, it initially served as a fortification and royal residence and became the most important castle in Moravia.

Situated atop a wooded hill next to the historic center of Brno, in 1645 it proved to be an impregnable fortification by resisting the siege of the then powerful Swedish army.

In 1783 the Emperor Joseph II He ordered the construction of the first cells in this fortification, but it was 1820, after the Napoleonic Wars, when Spilberk stopped being a military fortress and was transformed into a large prison.

During the late 18th century and the first part of the 19th century, political prisoners from various countries were imprisoned, from French revolutionaries and Hungarian Jacobins, to young Italian revolutionaries.

At this time the Spilberk Castle It gained the reputation of being a very feared prison, which ended in 1855, when the dungeons were closed and it became a military barracks.

Now for visit Spilberk Castle You will have to climb through the wooded park that surrounds it, one of the most popular recreational places among the inhabitants of Brno.

It is only worth going up to enjoy the best panoramic views of Brno, having in the foreground the Gothic building of the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul.

Actually, the visit to the historic fortification will be a walk through the ancient dungeons (casemates), which are accessed from the pit.

In them you will find the representation of various prison scenes of what life must have been like in Spilberk during the first part of the 19th century. You can see some of these scenes in the photo gallery.

Brno Castle visit schedules

The Spilberk Castle visiting hours They are, from July to September, every day of the week, from 10 a.m. to 18 p.m.; The rest of the year it opens from 9 a.m. to 17 p.m., closing on Mondays.

The ticket prices, for the complete visit, which includes the dungeons (casemates), the panoramic tower and the temporary exhibitions, are 9 euros for the general ticket, and 5,50 euros for the reduced ticket.

5 Gothic Church of St. James in Brno

Although the main church that you are going to see in your Brno visit, it's going to be the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, which is located at the top of the hill Petrov, there are other churches that will catch your attention on your walk through the historic center.

Very close to the Brno main square, liberty square, you find the Church of Santiago (St. James) Of Gothic style.

Externally, it will catch your attention due to the great height of its windows, which surround all the facades, and which anticipate the construction style of the church. But like many other churches, originally in that place during the 13th century a small Romanesque church was built that was surrounded by a cemetery and several chapels, but everything was demolished.

During the 15th century, the construction of the gothic church which you can now see, which was completed in 1473. But at the beginning of the 1570th century the building suffered a fire that collapsed the roof, which could not be repaired until XNUMX-

On the main façade there is a large tower of 94 meters high, which was completed in 1592.

La St. James's Church in Brno It has an interior of three naves with a polygonal presbytery, very bright due to the light that enters through its very high stained glass windows.

During the 1879th century, elements of the baroque style were incorporated into the interior, specifically, several chapels, but finally, in XNUMX, a new renovation was completed, in which much of the baroque decoration was eliminated and the building began to show its current appearance. neogothic style.

Without a doubt, a corner to highlight is the pulpit of the central nave, with its great decoration. But you should also pay attention to the tomb of Louis Raduit, the protagonist of the legend of the bell ringing of Brno Cathedral, During the 30 years war, in 1645, one of the most important milestones in the history of the city.

6 This is the visit to the Capuchin Crypt in Brno

If you are sensitive to macabre themes, I do not recommend visiting it; In fact, during my recent visit, one of my companions had to go out...to smoke.

This is the Capuchin Crypt, which you can in a church that is very close to one of the most central squares, Zelny, where the Vegetable Market, one of the most popular squares in Brno.

In the basement of the church of a former capuchin monastery Founded in the mid-17th century, you will find the bodies of the Capuchin friars who died during the first years distributed in several rooms.

Along with these, the bodies of the monastery's protectors, as well as important personalities of the time, are also in wooden coffins with glass covers.

The peculiar ventilation system of these rooms with cold air caused the drying of human flesh to be very slow, so the bodies were mummified naturally, maintaining the original physiognomy of the deceased. In many cases the original clothing is also preserved.

Finally, with the arrival of Emperor Joseph II, burials were prohibited in the city in 1787, which put an end to this practice. At that time, the bodies were inside coffins in the main nave of the church, so they had to be relocated to other rooms.

Over the years there were various reforms in the monastery, and the bodies changed locations until the current one. Likewise, in 1998 the current direct access to the Capuchin Crypt through a side door on the main façade of the church, which leads you to a small patio from where you can enter the basement.

As I have mentioned previously, it will be a visit with a brief tour of several small rooms where you will see the bodies of the most notable figures in their wooden coffins, as well as the former members of the Capuchin community spread out in rows on the floor.

7 Villa Tugendhat, World Heritage Site in Brno

And for the end we have left the most important place in Brno.

Although it is true that it is not inside the city, it is without a doubt the most prominent monument in Brno.

We are talking about a house from 1930 that is a perfect example of functionalist style, so much so that it is what has led it to be declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Luckily this town managed to survive the destruction of the World War, which has allowed it to survive in perfect condition to this day.

Here we leave you a specific article where we talk to you in more depth about this wonderful villa.

• What is Villa Tugenmdhat like?