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Slavonice

Here are some touristy photos of Slavonice, in the Czech Republic, that I took on 10 August 1998.

Slavonice (in German, Zlabings) is only a kilometre from the Austrian border. (It's in Bohemia, though it was until recently in Moravia.) The Lonely Planet and other guides make it seem a minor attraction compared with Telč, but while it's undeniably a lot smaller, I found it more attractive. It has a higher concentration of sgraffiti, and (though not normally on public view) outstanding ceilings.

What we see now of Slavonice mostly dates from a period lasting from the fourteenth to the end of the sixteenth century. Perhaps luckily for its architecture, its economy declined shortly afterward and has only recently revived -- partly thanks to Austrian tourists on their way to or from their vacations.

Slavonice has a much smaller piazza than does Telč, but there are also other little streets that are just as interesting.

For the descriptions below, I'm greatly indebted to the excellently produced booklet Slavonice: Městská památková rezervace (by Dr Petra Hoftichová) and its translation Slavonice: History of the town / Die Geschichte der Stadt. But blame mistakes on my poor memory, etc., not on this booklet.

Rainer Reiter saw an earlier version of this page and kindly wrote to me with information he'd learnt both from his family and from personal visits to Slavonice. He even annotated a photo for this page. (Thanks, Rainer!) He offers a historical view of Slavonice/Zlabings.

Views from the sixteenth-century town tower that's next to, or part of, the church:

On the left, the larger piazza (Unterer Platz, "lower piazza") that's Slavonice's showpiece (annotated version, 205kB); on the right the much narrower one (Oberer Platz, "upper piazza"), whose buildings are just as handsome.

Two more views from the same tower.

The belfry is sixteenth-century; I know nothing of the bells, but I have a weakness for old and large machinery.

The lower piazza, in the midday sun. The fountain and statue of Mary probably date from the 1660s. The building at the left of the photo on the left is a building with a splendid vault (see below); it used to house Konditorei Kosarek.

If you're going to have a supermarket on your main piazza, this is the way to do it. (This used to be called Kaufmann Sprinzl; to the right is Hotel Alfa, previously Hotel Stark.)

House no. 522, from the mid-sixteenth century, with sgraffiti of the Old Testament, etc., part of which is dated 1547. (I wanted to drink a beer there, but I'd already had enough beer.)

House no. 520, dating from the mid-sixteenth century, with sgrafitti from Ovid's Metamorphoses, etc.

House no. 528, with handsome sgraffiti.

House no. 538, from the second half of the sixteenth century (and originally a brewery), being restored. No unsightly suburbs!

Three views of the lower piazza.

Ceiling (in architectural parlance, "groined diamond vault") in the entrance to a cafeteria. (See the front of this building.) One other such ceiling survives in Slavonice; it has only recently been rediscovered.

The post office -- within the town hall, I think. If this is the town hall, it was built in 1909; anyway, it's clearly a new building. This is my idea of what a post office should look like.

And a final miscellany:

This page predates a much better alternative at www.slavonice-mesto.cz, or anyway I didn't know of that page when I wrote this. Waste no time, go there immediately! And also see www.slavonice.com and www.slavonice.cz.

First created: 14 December 1998. Last fiddled with: 7 May 2001. My thanks to Rainer Reiter and Karásek Libor.