South Moravia

The region is famous for its gastronomy and popular traditions

PERSONAGES

Gregor Johann Mendel

(1822 - 1884) A monk and then an Augustinian abbot in Brno, from a German-speaking Czech family, who became a famous biologist and mathematician considered the founder of genetics and the inventor of the fundamental laws of inheritance. Based on his experiments he formulated three rules which later became known as Mendel's laws of inheritance.

Václav Prokop Diviš

(1698 - 1765) Czech Catholic priest, theologian, member of the Premonstratensian order, naturalist, healer, musician and inventor. He is best known as the inventor of the lightning rod. He built his own "weather machine" which functioned as a lightning rod, before the famous inventor of the lightning rod, Benjamin Franklin. However, Diviš's concept was different from Franklin's; his lightning rod was mainly grounded and therefore worked better.

Zarážení hory aneb do vinice ani krok!

The literal translation is "Hit the mountain and not a step into the vineyard!" The popular custom of "hit the mountain" has persisted for centuries. The saying meant that anyone who did not have the right to stay in the vineyard could not enter. Only the owners and the so-called "hotaři", who had the task of guarding the vineyards against thieves and pickpockets, were allowed to move around the vineyard.

WHAT TO EAT

Znojemské okurky

(Znojmo Gherkins)
Wonderfully crunchy, slightly tart, spicy enough and sweet enough. Pickled gherkins are the specialty of South Moravia, especially the Znojmo area. The infusion for gherkins has always been a bit of a mystery to every family as each has modified and improved the recipe.

Moravský vrabec

(Moravian Sparrow)
A popular specialty still based today on the tradition of domestic slaughter. The meat scraps (called sparrow) are cooked in a pan all together. As an accompaniment, bread, potato gnocchi, stewed cabbage or spinach are served.

Hodové koláčky Máslové

(Butter cakes)
Yeast dough and filled with raisins, cottage cheese, poppy seeds, ground walnuts. Cupcakes are the real protagonists of the wedding tables and of course they are not lacking in family celebrations and regional festivals.

MUST-SEE

Oskerušová Naučná stezka

Natural trail at the foot of the White Carpathians where a rare species of the thermophilic rowan tree grows. The name “oskeruš” is Slavic but has no clear origin. It is one of the rarest fruit trees in Europe and abounds in fruit - even a three-hundred-year-old tree produces more than a ton of fruit. Its wood is one of the strongest and the mature specimens that you can appreciate on the nature trail are unique in the world.

Sand Ornaments

Šardice, Hovorany, Ježov or Moravany: these are some villages of the Kyjov region in the Slovácko area where the tradition of sand ornaments has been preserved to this day. In the past, sand ornaments were poured to decorate the streets before Sunday mass, but today they mostly accompany folk festivals.

Strážnický modrotisk

(Indigo dyeing)
It is a traditional fabric made with a special technology and in Central Europe it is still made by hand. The workshop was founded in Strážnice in 1906 by Cyril Joch, thus continuing an old local tradition. The craftsmen made blue printed fabrics with regional designs, which were printed to order for the inhabitants of Strážnice and neighboring regions or taken to nearby fairs. Today the laboratory still works with traditional shapes and with some of the original matrices.

SOUTH MORAVIA